The lawyer of the whistleblower who informed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of the $43m, N23.2m and £27,800 (N13bn) recovered from an Ikoyi apartment, Yakubu Galadima, has said his client is prepared to sue the Federal Government for fraud if he is not paid his money soon.
Given that the 5% payment as stated by the whistle-blowing policy is yet to be made to Galadima’s client, the Punch reports that the lawyer said “That (suing the government) is one of the options but we have many options. Before now I had a discussion with Alhaji Lai Mohammed who directed me to speak with a lady in the office of the Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Tolu Kasali. I had a discussion with her and she told me that she would see what the government could do about it.
“My client’s concern is that time is of the essence. The guy wants to relocate from the country. There is no time and his life is in danger. He is jobless at the moment. He is not doing anything right now and in fact he is a burden on me.”
The lawyer said his client had also suffered psychological trauma caused by the Federal Government’s inaction.
Earlier, the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, has tied the delayed payment to the commission’s decision to hold counselling sessions for the whistleblower on prudently managing his bounty, as he is “now a millionaire.”
