The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested former Minister of the Interior, Patrick Abba Moro on Monday. The anti-graft agency also picked the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works and Housing, Abubakar Magaji, who was at the time the permanent secretary at the Ministry of the Interior. Both Moro and Magaji are answering questions on the March, 2014 job tragedy at the Nigerian Immigration Service and the e-passport project of the service.
The NIS collected over N520 million from 520,000 job applicants. The tragedy suffered at the venue of the interview made civil society groups call for the resignation or sack of Moro as minister as well as the Comptroller-General of the NIS at the time, David Parradang. They also called for their criminal prosecution for involuntary homicide. Accusations also arose that the committee set up to look into the case had their report thrown out since Moro was alleged to be then Senate President, David Mark’s political godson.
Moro was also accused of favouring a private firm in the e-Passport biometric project for the Immigration. He was said to have allocated 30 percent of the project profit to the firm contrary to the 15 percent, of the $100 added to the $1000 charged for the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card Fee, Parradang had proposed. The biometric project, which took off in the country on 22 September, 2015, was initiated by Parradang following a letter to Moro in 2014.
Reports in The Punch say both Moro and Magaji were still with at the EFCC as at 10pm Monday night.
