The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has addressed the controversy surrounding the Relationship Expert, Blessing Okoro, also known as Blessing CEO, saying no official complaint has been filed against her, despite widespread public outrage.
The controversy started in January when Blessing CEO disclosed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and asked the public for help paying for her surgery.
Many people doubted her announcement and accused her of making up the illness to get money.
Last Thursday, Blessing said she asked for public support early as a way to prepare financially, even though she did not yet know the exact cost of the surgery.
On Friday, as criticism continued, Blessing defended her decision not to share her cancer test results, saying she wanted to protect her medical privacy.
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Earlier, Blessing CEO had said on social media that she had ‘stage 4’ cancer, but she later called the whole situation a “miscommunication”.
Blessing said she received N13 million in public donations, not the N100 million widely reported.
Despite her explanation, many called on the anti-graft agency to arrest her for receiving public funds under false pretences.
Speaking about the development, a source at the EFCC said the commission has not received any formal complaint against Blessing CEO.
The source emphasised that the agency does not act based on social media agitation but requires a legitimate complainant to initiate an investigation.
“Everybody is saying EFCC should arrest Blessing CEO. But nobody has placed a petition before the EFCC CEO. As an anti-corruption agency, we cannot work on social media agitation, social media frenzy, without a credible petition that will authorise us to work on it,” the source disclosed.
The official further explained that a petitioner is necessary to serve as a witness if the case goes to court.
“If we go by social media agitation and there is a need to go to court, who is going to serve as a witness? Who are we going to say has petitioned the commission?” the source asked.
“So we expect that people who are so passionate about arrest and who are calling that, ‘oh, the EFCC should do this, the EFCC should do that’, we expect them to come forward and bring a petition that will authorise us, that will give us a legitimate ground to act on the matter.
“So as an agency, we are organised. Place facts before us, and we act on them.”
The source advised that any aggrieved person should come forward with evidence, including receipts of donations made to Blessing.
“Everybody knows that if somebody obtains anything by false pretence, they are liable to EFCC investigation if it can be established. This is the receipt of the money she collected. They should come forward with receipts and evidence,” the source added.