Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday interrogated former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno State for six hours, a source at the anti-corruption agency told our correspondent. Mr. Sheriff, who is a factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is being questioned on allegations he grossly misappropriated funds belonging to the people of Borno State during his two terms as governor of the state from 2003 to 2011.
Dressed in a brownish gold agbada, Mr. Sheriff arrived at the EFCC’s Maiduguri office at 10:20 a.m. and left at 4:15 p.m. He drove in in a cream-colored Chevrolet sports utility vehicle, with two similar vehicles in his entourage. His police orderly also accompanied him to the EFCC offices.
Our EFCC source said the former governor and senator answered questions from 10:20 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. and was asked to return on Thursday for further interrogation.
A security source disclosed that Mr. Sheriff had arrived in Maiduguri on Wednesday afternoon aboard one of his four private jets. The former governor is believed to be one of Nigeria’s richest former governors. His fleet of jets includes a Gulfstream jet G650 model he purchased in 2013 at a reported cost of $72 million (N11.5 billion), two years after leaving office as governor.
In November 2013, Thisday newspaper reported that Mr. Sheriff had bought the Gulfstream jet and registered it in Dubai with special specifications.
According to the paper, the Gulfstream “was the fourth in [Mr. Sheriff’s] fleet, as he already has three old Dornier aircraft which he acquired from Aero Contractors at an estimated $3 million (N480 million). The Dornier aircraft were said to be used for charter services as the former governor recently obtained an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for his airline, Skybird. But a source told Thisday that his new acquisition, the Gulfstream, was acquired for Sheriff’s personal use, as the aircraft was top of the range, and [he] would [not] want to deploy [the jet] for commercial service. According to US-based Forbes magazine, the Gulfstream G650 has an order book of 200 customers throughout the world. Gulfstream described the aircraft as ultra-high-speed, ultra-long-range business jet and the gold standard in business aviation. The model was introduced in 2008 with a capacity for eight passengers and a crew of four on nonstop legs of 7,000 nautical miles (12,964 km) for the standard configuration. That means it will link Dubai with New York and London with Buenos Aires. With its powerful Rolls-Royce BR725 engines, the G650 will cover shorter distances at a speed of Mach 0.925.”
ThisDay reported that the aircraft manufacturer gave a superlative promotion of the jet, proclaiming, “No traditional business jet will take you closer to the speed of sound.”
The paper added: “The actions of the former governor, who has been alleged to fund the terrorist Boko Haram sect in North-eastern Nigeria, on the new aircraft, has been described by a Nigerian pilot as unpatriotic. According to him, by registering the aircraft overseas, Sheriff had denied Nigeria taxes and import duty on the aircraft. No Nigerian pilot or engineer would also be employed to operate or work on the aircraft because with the foreign registration, only pilots and engineers licensed in the United Arab Emirates would be authorized to operate and service the aircraft.
“By registering the aircraft overseas, he has avoided tax and import duty, which he should pay to a country where he is a citizen and from which he made the money which he now spends on a foreign crew.”
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