The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday interrogated former Governor of Akwa Ibom State Godswill Akpabio over allegation of financial crimes. Daily Trust gathered that Akpabio honoured the invitation by the anti-graft agency to explain allegations of looting of the state’s funds during his tenure.
Sources told our correspondent that Senator Akpabio was being interrogated late yesterday evening at the Abuja head offices of the Commission. He was spotted at the EFFC office in company of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Rickey Tarfa, at about 5:20pm.
Akpabio’s arrest yesterday is fallout of the petition by an Abuja-based lawyer and activist, Leo Ekpenyong, who had on June 8 this year petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari and the EFCC, calling for Senator Akpabio’s probe and accusing him of looting.
The petitioner had earlier on Wednesday adopted his petition and provided more details to the anti-graft agency on the allegations against the minority leader of Peoples Democratic Party in the senate.
Ekpenyong also in another petition dated June 22, alleged that the former governor with two top functionaries of his administration looted N108.1billion from the state coffers. He claimed that between January and December 2014, it is on record that the trio of Godswill Akpabio, Mr. Etekamba Umoren and Mr. Udo Isobara, made illegal withdrawals from the state government-owned account with Zenith Bank.
“For example, a whopping N18 billion was withdrawn fraudulently from the state FAAC account with the United Bank for Africa in trenches of N10 million and above by Mr. Isobara in a surreptitious manner to conceal their dishonest intention,” he stated. He also alleged that the governor used the state’s funds to acquire choice properties in Lagos and Abuja.
The state’s former commissioner of information during Akpabio’s tenure, Aniekan Umana dismissed the claims, saying they are laced with falsehood.
It was also gathered that the EFCC is likely to grant Akpabio administrative bail in what is still an ongoing investigation.
The police in Kano on Sunday arrested the immediate past governor of Jigawa, Alhaji Sule Lamido. A reliable source told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano that Lamido was arrested for allegedly inciting his supporters to stop theconductofstate’supcominglocalcouncilpolls. NAN reports that the arrest of Lamido may be connected with a programme aired on one of the Kano local radio stations. Lamido was alleged to have directed his supporters, during the programme, to ensure thatthey win the local governments elections by all means. The former governor was said to have been arrested at his Sharada Kano residence in the early hours of Sunday by the Zonal Investigative Bureau unit of Zone One Command of the Nigeria Police in Kano. When NAN visited the headquarters of Zone one located along BUK road, the former governor was still being held by the police who are yet to make any official statement on the issue. However, when contacted, the Public Relations officer, Zone 1, DSP Sambo...
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