The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has commenced investigation into the estacode paid to 87 officers from the ministry of foreign affairs and the federal civil service commission, who supervised the 2018 promotion exercise involving 59 foreign service officers.

The investigation, sources disclosed was triggered by intelligence alleging the existence of a cartel which is using the foreign service officers promotion as guise to defraud the Nigerian government.

Nigeria has 114 embassies all over the world and personnel from MFA are posted to the different embassies abroad.

The promotion examination of the personnel posted abroad is usually conducted abroad. For the 2018 promotion, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was said to have grouped embassies into four zones for ease of coordination.

There is Africa Zone with Nairobi, Kenya as Centre. European Zone with centre at London, Asia Zone with centre in New Delhi, India and America zone with Centre in New York Thirty-six officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs allegedly supervised the examination in the aforementioned Zones while the Federal Civil Service Commission deployed 51 officers for the same exercise.

While the ministry of foreign affairs paid a total sum of N37, 741,590.00 as estacode allowance to its officers, the Federal Civil Service Commission spent N52,474,072.00.

Sources disclosed that some of the officers who participated from the FCSC spent fewer days than the nine days approved. “Effort will be made to get the officers to refund the excess estacode,” an EFCC source said.

•Culled from a Vanguard report

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