Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said it had started investigating an audio tape leak in which Mohammed Idris, an EFCC agent, alleged the prosecutor General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had compromised business. corruption in the country.

In one of multiple audio recordings, the EFCC agent was chatting with one Abdulbari Yusuf, a younger brother of retired Rear Admiral and former Navy Account Manager Tahir Yusuf, who was facing to corruption charges.

Idris, who is a lawyer, was also heard giving Yusuf’s brother advice on how to defeat the Court of Appeal’s anti-corruption commission as well as how to drain money from a particular account.

“If he has any money in an account linked to his BVN (Bank Verification Number), he should evacuate them quickly.” And if he makes transfers, the EFCC will always track him. He would only have to withdraw and then deposit to another account, ”he said.

Yusuf also specifically mentioned Malami as the head of the EFCC, and the minister ordered the “big accounts” being unfreezed by the commission.

“Malami now controls the EFCC. The commission is in his hands. Once Malami speaks, the account will be unlocked. They unblock suspects’ accounts, including big business, ”the EFCC agent heard in the audio.

He also revealed how the attorney general introduced the suspect to a lawyer to deal with the case.

In another audio, the officer was also heard lambasting his colleagues for thoroughly investigating suspects, claiming that these colleagues were “groups of evil and terrible human beings.”

Reacting in a statement signed by Wilson Uwajuren on Thursday, the EFCC spokesman said he had opened an investigation into the matter.

The commission also said it does not condone acts of corruption while condemning the actions of Mohammed Idris.

The statement reads: “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was drawn to a buzzword in social media, where Mohammed Idris, lawyer and police officer on secondment to the commission, allegedly made unfounded allegations regarding the influence of Federation Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, over the commission.

“The committee wishes to state that it has started an investigation into the contents of the audio tape and that it will activate its internal mechanism to deal with the resulting issues.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the EFCC does not tolerate acts of corruption. The abuse of privilege for financial gratification by board staff is a serious disciplinary offense.

“Without prejudging the outcome of the investigation, excerpts from the audio recording made it clear that an extremely compromised ‘officer’ was dropping names to do good favor with his benefactor, a relative of a crime suspect . By the alleged action, the said officer is nothing more than a corrupt fifth columnist with little respect for the values ​​of the commission.

“The action is against the established standard operating procedure of the EFCC. Such professional indiscretion has no place in the new EFCC. The commission encourages citizens facing such unprofessional conduct on the part of EFCC staff to report to the commission in support of our quest to build a better agency.

“Reporting such behavior was made easier by the Eagle Eye app, a financial crime reporting app that launched earlier this year. We encourage members of the public to download and use the app from Apple and Google Play Store.

“Finally, the commission wishes to assure the public that its operations are guided by established professional precepts that do not support the type of discretion that could allow manipulation by external actors. “