These are certainly not the best of times for the sacked Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal as President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered his prosecution and that of the ex-Director-General of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayo Oke.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo revealed this at an event held in Lagos recently. He said;   

“I think the first thing for us is that the report was acted upon; the former SGF was dismissed. Second, the President has directed that the SGF and former DG of NIA be prosecuted. So, we are expecting that prosecution will take place. The next, of course, is that criminal allegations will be filed against them and the prosecution process will be completed.”

“Corruption has had detrimental effects on Nigeria’s economy. This country was subjected to corruption for many years. Grand corruption perpetuated by previous governments is responsible for the state of the economy. Many of the projects in the country initiated by the previous government are not completed because of corruption. Grand corruption makes people start projects and never complete them.”

“Grand corruption is when the head of government takes money from the treasury and shares it to the people. You will never find people stealing from the public treasury under this administration. The same individuals who robbed this country are saying they want to come back and fix the problems.”

“We should ask them what they are going to do about grand corruption. How are you sure they are not going to enrich their friends with public funds.”

It would be recalled that Babachir Lawal was sacked after a Senate committee indicted him on misappropriating funds meant for internally displaced persons (IDPs), in the North-East. Similarly, Ayo Oke was removed from office, following the discovery of $43 million at an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos.