According
to a report by The Punch, the anti-graft agency has said that its
investigative team has not been allowed to meet Diezani in the United
Kingdom despite all its effort.
The
EFCC’s effort has been allegedly thwarted by Binns of BCL Solicitors,
who has been representing the ex-minister in legal matters in the United
Kingdom, where she has been staying since 2015.
An
occurrence of Binns’ effort to thwart possible opportunity to
interrogate the accused ex-minister was in March 2017 when EFCC’s team
of investigators, led by Abdulrasheed Bawa tried to meet her in the UK but proved abortive as Binns refused to allow the commission.
In
a counter-affidavit filed before the Federal High Court, Abuja, the
EFCC says it had been investigating Diezani for various allegations of
corrupt practices, including abuse of office, money laundering, stealing
of public funds and illegal acquisition of properties within and
outside Nigeria.
An EFCC detective, Rufai
Zaki, however, said that it was not yet possible to bring Diezani back
to Nigeria as she was being investigated by the UK’s Metropolitan Police
for several other financial crimes, saying the probe had reached an
advanced stage.