While millions of Nigerians are caught up in sundry activities to usher in the new year, outspoken former Senator and civil rights activist, Shehu Sani is currently cooling off in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following his arrest on Tuesday.
Details had emerged that Senator Sani reportedly used the name of the Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, to collect the sum of $30,000 from a popular car dealer in the state with an assurance to shield him and his company from any form of inquiry by the anti-graft agency.
Following the development, the cash payment soon became a source of anger between Shehu Sani and the car dealer and eventually drew the attention of Magu and EFCC.
According to reports, the car dealer had opted to close the matter after ‘forgiving’ Sani and writing off the balance of $5000 with the refund of $25,000, Magu insisted on arresting and investigating the former lawmaker for extortion and name dropping so as to serve as a deterrent to others.
Magu and his agency insisted on arresting Sani following his refusal to honour what a source described as numerous invitations sent to him by the agency.
The former senator is also said to have declined to pick his calls or respond to text messages sent to him by the operatives of the anti-graft agency over the development.
“The former Senator is with us as we speak and he is going to be with us even up to the New Year and we hope to grill him on various issues of interest to us.” an official of the anti-graft agency said on Tuesday, saying it was on the basis of his refusal to honour previous invitations that led to EFCC operatives storming his home to arrest him for interrogation.
However, as of the time of publishing this report, the exact amount allegedly taken from victims by the former lawmaker has not been disclosed by the EFCC.
