TWO former Managing Directors of Siemens Nigeria, Messrs Edward Seidel and Gilbert Klaus, were yesterday declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over their involvement in a 17.5 million Euros bribery scam.
 
Three former Communications Ministers, Major-General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (rtd), Chief Cornelius Adebayo and Senator Jubril Aminu, are some senior officials linked to the scam.
 
It was learnt that the failure of the duo to heed the EFCC invitation was delaying the prosecution of some former Nigerian officials fingered in the bribe-for- contract scam.
 
The Chairman of the anti-graft agency, Mrs Farida Waziri, who directed that the two former German Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the multinational company be declared wanted, said the duo had repeatedly failed to honour several invitations extended to them.
 
The two men had been on the run since they were hurriedly recalled back to Germany in 2007 when a Munich court indicted Siemens AG of large scale bribery of government officials in some countries, including Nigeria.
 
Besides declaring the two Siemens former top officials wanted, it was learnt that the EFCC was making further arrangements to get them watch-listed by the Interpol with a view to getting them extradited to the country, where they are expected to face trial.
 
A reliable source within the anti-graft agency confirmed that the failure of the two Germans to honour invitations sent to them had delayed the trial of other suspects named in the scam.
 
Said the source: "But the decision to declare them wanted now surely signifies two things; the stage is set for the arraignment of Nigerians already indicted in the probe while the process for the extradition of the two Germans who have been hiding in Germany has equally begun."
 
When contacted, the commission's spokesman, Mr. Femi Babafemi, who signed the document to declare Seidel and Klaus wanted, confirmed the development and explained that the step became imperative because the EFCC could no longer wait.
 
He expressed the commission's preparedness to start the trial of indicted persons soon, even as he declined to give a specific date.
 
Some former top Nigerian government officials, including former ministers, top officials of the Nigerian Telecommunication (NITEL), National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), now Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Plc, and other political office holders had been interrogated by the EFCC over their involvement in the bribery scam.