Five of the 17 federal permanent secretaries, who were compulsorily retired by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, may face trial for involvement in corruption.
One of the retired senior civil servants has been interrogated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission(ICPC).
Another one is alleged to have embezzled public funds, which he used for exotic vehicles, foreign trips and outrageous hotel bills while two others involved were linked to alleged bribery scandals.
The retired Permanent Secretaries include Aliyu Ismaila; Godknows Igali; Baba Farouk; Abdulkadir Musa; Linus Awute; Fatima Bamidele; Obinna John Chukwu; Ezekiel Oyemomi; Anasthesia Nwaobia; Tunji Olaopa; George A. Ossi ; Mike John Nwabiala; Mohammed Bashar and Abdullahi Yola.
The Nation reports that the Presidency was informed by security reports that most of them stole public funds with impunity and were living above their means while in the federal service.
The report further added that their indictment was made possible by information gathered from books written by Governor Nasir El-Rufai and a former Permanent Secretary, Goke Adegoroye.
Some of the allegations being probed include acquisition of choice properties; $4.5b tax holidays; N1.9 billion Ebola Fund(including N900 million for isolation tents); $2 billion arms deal; N29 billion fictitious contracts; N275.5 million budget for 2015 poll monitoring; the mismanagement of subsidy funds; questionable waivers and N2.4 billion fertilizer scam.
“About five of the retired permanent secretaries might face trial based on discreet investigation by some security agencies on how they mismanaged their ministries.
“Some of these permanent secretaries appeared before one or two anti-graft agencies for questioning. They are already aware of their pending trial.
“Some of these senior civil servants have been pleading for soft landing but the government may not listen to them. The anti-graft agencies will soon take charge,” the report said.
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