Osborne Towers Cash: Whistleblower Now a Millionaire – Magu

Segun Atanda/

Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, says the man who blew the whistle on the N15 billion recovered from an apartment in Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, is now a millionaire.

Magu stated this at the ongoing 7th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday.

News Agency of Nigeria reports that spokesman of the EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed this in a statement.

Following the whistleblower’s alert, EFCC operatives, on April 7, broke into the four-bedroom apartment and recovered $43m, £27,800 and N23m stashed in an iron safe.

According to the statement, Magu said the whistleblower, who he referred to as a “young man”, was already a millionaire by virtue of the percentage he was formally entitled to.

Magu said the agency was counselling the whistleblower because he was someone who had not earned N1million of his own before.

He stated: “So, he is under counselling on how to make good use of the money and also the security implication.

“We don’t want anything bad to happen to him after taking delivery of his entitlement. He is a national pride.”

Magu appealed to Nigerians who want a positive change in the country to take advantage of the whistleblowing policy of the government.

He emphasized that aside from contributing to the eradication of corruption, genuine whistleblowers also stood to “benefit from the illicit acquisition by the looters”.

Magu added: “So, we encourage more whistleblowers to come forward with genuine information that will lead to recoveries from looters of public treasuries.

“That is part of the ways we can put an end to the looting madness in the public sector.

“When they know that they have no place to keep the loot, as all eyes are on them, they will find looting of public treasuries unattractive.”

A Federal High Court in Lagos today ordered the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government.

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