A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and
Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio has
been arrested by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Premium Times reports that he was taken in by
EFCC operatives at about 5.20 pm on Friday.
A few aides and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
SAN, Ricky Tarfa, accompanied him.
The EFCC had begun investigation into alleged
theft of N108.1billion of Akwa Ibom funds by the
former governor in June.
The action followed a petition forwarded to the
commission by an Abuja-based lawyer and
activist, Leo Ekpenyong.
Ekpenyong had on June 8 petitioned President
Muhammadu Buhari and the EFCC, calling for
Akpabio’s probe and accusing him of looting Akwa
Ibom state treasury.
Several other indigenes of the state demanding
the investigation of the former governor were also
said to have been invited by the EFCC for
questioning.
In a new petition to the EFCC dated June 22, and
copied to President Muhammadu Buhari and the
Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, Mr.
Ekpenyong gave details of some of Mr. Akpabio’s
alleged financial recklessness.
He alleged that between January and December
2014, the ex-governor colluded with two of his
top aides to steal a whopping N108.1 billion from
the state’s treasury.
Mr. Ekpenyong told the EFCC that the former
Government House Permanent Secretary,
Etekamba Umoren, and the former Accountant
General of the state, Udo Isobara, colluded with
Mr. Akpabio to steal the funds.
“Between January –December 2014, it is on record
that the trio of Godswill Akpabio, Mr. Etekamba
Umoren and Mr. Udo Isobara, made illegal but
substantial withdrawals of cash from a designated
state government-owned account with Zenith
Bank with account number: 1010375881
amounting to N22.1 billion,” he stated in the
petition.
“It is worthy of note that reasons for such
ungodly cash withdrawals against financial
regulations and due process laws range between
sundry use and unjustifiable expenditures by
Godswill Akpabio and his numerous surrogates
and proxies.
“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withdrawn fraudulently from the state FAAC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.”
Ekpenyong said Umoren was rewarded with an
appointment as Government House chief of staff
and now secretary to the state government under
Udom Emmanuel’s administration.
The legal practitioner further alleged that over
N50 billion of Akwa Ibom funds were spent by the
former governor during the last general elections.
He further acussed Akpabio of withdrawing N18
billion from the state coffers under the guise of
special services, reception of very important
guests and sundry items.
“The cumulative aggregate of these monies stolen
by Godswill Akpabio from the coffers of
government as pocket money is the annual
budget of some states in Nigeria put together,”
the petition reads.
He listed the bouquet of assets acquired by the
former governor through surrogates to include a
multi-billion naira mansion at Plot 5 Okogosi
Spring Close, off Katsina-Ala Crescent, Maitama-
Abuja, a multi-billion naira mansionette at Plot 28
Colorado Close, Maitama, Abuja and another
multi-billion naira mansion at 22 Probyn Road,
Ikoyi, Lagos.
Others include a multi-billion naira mansionette at
Plot 23 Olusegun Aina Street, Parkview, Lagos and
a multi-billion naira 25 storey building at Akin
Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
No comments:
Post a Comment