Nigeria Opens Probe against Ex-President Obasanjo

Nigeria’s federal anticorruption body has begun probing the country’s immediate former President Olusegun Obasanjo following a petition by an independent anti-corruption pressure group. Femi Babafemi, the spokesman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said Obasanjo would be investigated for issues raised by the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), which include illegal profiteering from national oil resources, involvement in dubious electricity contracting and illegal acquisition of state resources and funds. Obasanjo stepped down in 2007 after the expiry of his constitutional eight year term as Nigeria’s president. [PE]