The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been given the green light by the Presidency to investigate former President Goodluck Jonathan for alleged corruption, according to a report this morning in Saturday PUNCH.

The report quoted Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, as disclosing on Friday in Abuja that the Presidency had given the anti-corruption body a free hand to investigate and try anybody involved in corrupt practices. “He said that the President was not interested in teleguiding the anti-graft agency,” the report said.

Saturday PUNCH said it had asked Adesina if the EFCC would need the permission of the President before probing Jonathan. He was also asked to react to an allegation that Buhari had been reluctant to grant permission to the EFCC to investigate Jonathan, the report said.

It quoted Adesina as saying in his response: “The President does not teleguide the EFCC in any way.”

The report also quoted the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, as stressing that Buhari did not sign any pact with Dr. Jonathan or any past President, exempting them from being probed.

The paper quoted Shehu as saying in an exclusive interview: “There is no secret pact between President Buhari and any past President.

“If you know or understand him, President Buhari is not the kind of person who will go into secret agreements. He is open about everything he does.

“The war against corruption is open-ended. Nobody knows how it will end.”

•Photo shows Ex-President Jonathan.