The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it had sent an invitation letter to the suspended Chairman of the Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP), Okoi Obono-Obla.
The spokesperson of the commission, Rasheedat Okoduwa, said Thursday in Abuja that the letter was sent through the office of the Solicitor General of the Federation.
On when Obono-Obla would report to the commission, she said: “He would have been given the letter stating the date and time to come because when we invite anybody, we don’t leave it open- ended, it is always within a particular time frame. When other developments occur, we will let you know, but he has been invited,” Okoduwa said.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday ordered the suspension of Obono-Obla as the chairman of the panel.
The presidency said the “suspension shall be in effect until the conclusion of ongoing Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) investigations into a number of cases relating to Mr. Obono-Obla.”
The suspension came after an extensive investigation conducted into Obono – Obla ‘s academic credentials by the anti-graft agency.
He is facing allegations of certificate forgery and other corruption-related charges. On Friday, his office located in Asokoro was sealed by some armed police officers.
Obono-Obla, however, in a statement said it was difficult to know why his office was sealed because of the Eid-el-Kabir holidays. He alleged that some highly placed Nigerians “wishing to protect some persons under investigation were arm-twisting the panel officials, thereby distracting the panel from carrying out its lawful mandate.”
According to him, the panel has examples of many high-profile cases in which misappropriated public funds were traced to the personal bank accounts of public servants, and rather than explain the sources of the funds, they resort to false petitions and unfairly attacking the officials of the panel.