. EFCC Blocks AVM Atawodi ‘s Daughter from Selling Atlanta Property
By Segun Adebolu (The New Diplomat Business Desk)
Details are emerging how the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) allegedly tracked leads reportedly linking the current governor of Zamfara, Bello Muhammaed Matawalle and retired Air Vice Marshal Salihu Atawodi, a former head of Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Security (PICOMSS), and erstwhile governorship aspirant in Kogi State to a web of alleged suspicious transactions.
Sources confided in The New Diplomat that a curious sum of about N1, 475,144,199.15 was said to have been withdrawn from PICOMSS account, and allegedly allocated for lobbying some members of the House of Representatives purportedly to convert PICOMSS into a Maritime Security agency at that time.
The governor who was said to be a member of the House Committee on National Security, Intelligence and Public Safety at the time and is being accused of purportedly convincing the Atawodi’s led PICOMSS to release the princely cash purportedly for operational moves aimed at lobbying other committee members in a bid to help convert the PICOMSS to a Maritime Security Agency .
Investigations show that Governor Matawalle who is being accused of spurring the initiative while serving as member of the House Committee on National Security, Intelligence and Public Safety at the time is believed to have been quizzed by the EFCC before he was declared governor of Zamfara State by the apex court last year. But with the cloth of immunity now protectively hanging over him as a serving governor, it is impossible for the anti-graft agency to invite him for further investigations. But sources in EFCC told The New Diplomat that the anti-graft agency might wait patiently until he steps down from office to enable the agency quiz him further on his alleged involvement in the deal.
Another source however explained that the Zamfara governor’s only role really was because he knew the Bureau the Change who handled the transaction of converting the Naira equivalent to dollars and vice versa. The source said the governor knew the bureau de change and merely introduced him to AVM Atawodi at that material time. The New Diplomat gathered that the international passports of the Atawodis who are reportedly suspected to be involved in the financial deals, including his wife, Mrs Winfred Atawodi and daughter , Eleojo may have been seized.
A property allegedly acquired by the Atawodis reportedly with about $808,851 suspiciously wired to the United States may have also come under serious scrutiny. Sources hinted that the funds were reportedly deployed for the purchase of the said property believed to be located at a Lot in the 17th District of Fulton County in Georgia at 3266 Ferncliff Lane, Atlanta Georgia 30324. This property, it was gathered has been placed under investigations by the EFCC with the help of a US partner agency while the NIA may likely be called in to assist with authentication.
The New Diplomat gathered that not-withstanding the seizure of Atawodi’s daughter’s passport, she has been making frantic efforts to travel to the United States under various guise, a move the EFCC suspect is to enable her sell of the property in contention in Atlanta, Georgia. But sources reveal that the anti-graft agency may have tighten its noose around the Atawodis to avoid this likelihood.
Recall that PICOMMS was set up between 2008 and 2012 during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. But it was later disbanded in 2013 when it was allegedly discovered that AVM Atawodi had allegedly steered the PICOMMS from the path originally designed for it. Sources revealed that the PICOMMS was funded partly by interventionist funds from NNPC, ONSA, NIMASA and Ministry of Defence.
Atawodi was born in 1952 in Idah present day Kogi State. He had his primary education at Ajaka/Idah and later attended the Nigerian Military Academy Zaria between 1967-1971. Shortly after, he enlisted at the Nigerian Defense Academy in 1972 as a member of Regular Cadet Course 12. He was later commissioned into the Nigerian Airforce as a Pilot Officer on 14 December 1974. In his military career, he attended several courses overseas including the Air War College, Karachi, Pakistan, an affiliate of the Karachi University, Pakistan, and rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshall before his retirement from the Military. He is married to Winnie, a banker and they both have four children namely Ebi, Uneku, Ele and Amana.
In May 2016, Atawodi was arraigned by the EFCC for allegedly defrauding the Federal government to the tune of about N600m through suspicious contracts deals during his time as head of PICOMMS. He however, pleaded not guilty.
