The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited the former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr Ayodele Oke, and his wife, Folashade over the role played in the $43m found in an Ikoyi apartment.
EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed this in a statement signed by him on Wednesday.
According to Uwujaren, the summon was in furtherance of the Commission’s investigative activities to unravel the circumstances surrounding the $43.45 million cash recovered by its operatives in Lagos sometime in April 2017.
This comes two days after President Muhammadu Buhari sacked Mr Oke and the former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal over corruption allegations.
Lawal was suspended for allegedly violating the law and due process in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE), while Oke was suspended for his alleged connection with the Ikoyi funds.
President Buhari had set up a three-man panel headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to investigate the allegations levelled against both men.
The committee was, however, unable to submit its report on schedule as the President went on medical leave, a trip that kept him away from the country for more than three months.
After the delay in taking a decision on the fate of both men had attracted criticism, President Buhari sacked Lawal and Oke on October 30.
Hours later, the Presidency said it would not shield anyone found to be culpable the anti-corruption war from prosecution.
The EFCC consequently invited Mr Oke and his wife whom it claimed the apartment in Ikoyi where the funds were recovered was rented in her name.
“Mrs Oke had refused to honour previous invitations by the Commission which resumed its investigation into the matter, following the Federal Government’s decision to relieve Mr Oke of his position as DG,” Uwujaren said.
“Beside the couple, other suspects are equally being invited to determine their culpability or otherwise in the humongous cash, in foreign currencies and naira notes, stashed in a residential building at Osborne road Ikoyi, Lagos,” he added.