There is a renewed pressure on the Abdulrasheed Bawa leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to investigate a petition against Alpha Beta Consulting, a tax consultancy firm linked to Bola Tinubu, former Governor of Lagos State and now the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

This time, the pressure is being mounted by some civil society groups and politicians who insist that EFCC having failed in the past to do justice to the petition, must now make amend by investigating the petition and being open to Nigerians on the matter.

The petition dated July 6th 2018 alleged over a N100 billion fraud, tax evasion and money laundering against Alpha Beta Consulting and Alpha Beta LLP. It was written by the chambers of Adetunji & Associates on behalf of Mr. Dapo Apara, referred to as a former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Beta Consulting.

The petition was received at EFCC on July 11, 2018, but allegedly ignored by the anti-graft agency.

However, apparently to douse pressure generated by the submission of the petition, the EFCC in a July 13, 2019 tweet said: “While not denying the fact that petition was received on Alpha Beta by the EFCC, preliminary investigation showed that the petitioner did not substantiate the allegation contained in it. For the records, Alpha Beta investigation is ongoing. We have nothing to hide.”

But some Nigerians pelted attack at the commission for what they described as ‘doublespeak’, wondering if EFCC claims the petitioner did not substantiate the allegation, how come it is still claiming the investigation is ‘ongoing’?

Since the receipt of the high-profile petition, it has gathered mould in the file as the commission, against all entreaties, before it came out to claim that the petitioner did not substantiate the allegations. Some powerful forces within and outside the commission were said to be behind the scheme to shield the APC presidential candidate and his company from any probe.

The forces were said to enjoy the backing of the then suspended Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, who made it impossible for the operatives of the commission to as much as look into the petition.

In its response, the management of the company dismissed the allegation as “the worst form of libel” and a desperate attempt by Mr. Apara to conceal and distract attention from his own wrongdoing and misconduct that led to the termination of his appointment from the company.

Persons conversant with the matter alleged that the petitioner was accused of several wrongdoings while as staff of the company for which he was fired and had since escaped from the country. They said an investigation into his financial dealings while he was a staff of the company should be the priority of the EFCC and “not some baseless allegations that do not add up.”

But an EFCC insider told our reporter that there is a new lease at the commission under Bawa which favours the investigation of all outstanding petitions, especially high-profile petitions. The source mentioned the petition against Tinubu and Alpha Beta company as one of those being revisited by the new leadership of the commission which is “working hard to do its job without fear or favour.”

Bawa became the Chairman of EFCC on February 24, 2021, succeeding Mohammed Umar who became Acting Chair of the EFCC following the suspension and probe of Magu.

A source said that the Mohammed Umar leadership was keen to burnish the image of the EFCC through transparent dealings, fairness and a no-holds-barred approach to fighting financial crimes and had made efforts to revisit the petition but achieved little before he was removed.

In the petition, sent on Apara’s  behalf by Adetunji Adegboyega chambers, his solicitors, Apara said: “Over the years the company is being protected and shielded by some powerful politicians and people in the society which made them to always boast of being untouchable, but our client, feeling the need not to keep quiet again and strengthened by his belief in the fact that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is keen on fighting corruption, which has been the bane of our country, is of the firm belief that it’s time to expose and open the can of worms called ALPHA BETA CONSULTING.

According to Apara’s petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Alpha Beta “has become an avenue for official corruption of government officials, a conduit pipe for massive money laundering scheme, tax evasion, among other vices”.

In the petition, sent on his behalf by Adetunji Adegboyega , his solicitors, Apara said: “Over the years the company is being protected and shielded by some powerful politicians and people in the society which made them to always boast of being untouchable, but our client, feeling the need not to keep quiet again and strengthened by his belief in the fact that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is keen on fighting corruption, which has been the bane of our country, is of the firm belief that it’s time to expose and open the can of worms called ALPHABETA CONSULTING.

“Our client  is of the firm belief that it is time for the commission to step in and conduct a holistic investigation into the activities of ALPHABETA CONSULTING LIMITED AND ALPHABETA LLP, with a view to uncovering the massive corruption, money laundering, tax evasion etc going on in the company. Kindly note that one of the companies being used to perpetrate money laundering by the company is still another company named Ocean Trust Limited.

“The only hope of our client and indeed the teeming Nigerians who are victims of the crimes being perpetrated by these companies in seeking justice is the commission, which we strongly believe in and therefore call on the commission to cause a holistic investigation into this case and all involved with the aim of bringing these criminals to justice, and not allow their claims of being untouchable to be validated.

“Kindly note sir that as our client is willing and able to provide information to substantiate the claims, though, we will plead for these to be done through us as he is presently fearing for his life having been receiving death threats from a lot of quarters because of this case.”

Alpha Beta first came to public knowledge when it was appointed as a consultant to the Lagos State Government, arguably its first client, under the tenure of Babatunde Fowler as the Chief Executive Officer/Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue from 2005 to 2014.

The company was appointed in the days of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Governor of Lagos State and it was instrumental to the success recorded by the state in tax collection, providing a template that other states later copied.

Although Tinubu was alleged to be a major shareholder in the company, but his name does not reflect in the company’s registration documents at the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC.

Answering questions on Channels TV Sunday night, Dele Alake, spokesman for Tinubu Campaign team parried questions on the ownership of Alpha Beta, claiming that since the company is delivering on its mandate as tax consultant, there was no point bothering about its ownership.