By Thompson Agu
There are strong indications that more chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Imo State Chapter, may be guests of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, if reports from Abuja are anything to go by.
Reports filtered in that the former Imo State Governor, Achike Udenwa was arrested Wednesday night and detained by the EFCC in connection with the alleged campaign fund the PDP utilized to prosecute the Presidential election of ex President Goodluck Jonathan.
EFCC was said to have captured Udenwa for supposedly getting N305m from the Director of Finance of the Goodluck Campaign Organization, Senator Nenadi Usman. The cash was said to have been a piece of the N4bn that exited from the imprest record of the office of the National Security Adviser domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.
After getting hold of Udenwa who had already been granted bail before the fresh arrest, sources disclosed that those who were in partner with Udenwa in the handling of the fund for the election in Imo may be invited to explain their roles in Abuja.
Newspaper reports further have it that Udenwa had accepted receiving the fund by means of Diamond Bank account received on January 14 and 28 of 2015, in three separate portions. The former Governor was said to have clarified that a former appointee of Jonathan from the State was also a signatory to the account.
A source at the EFCC was quoted to have said “Upon his capture, Udenwa was promptly allowed managerial safeguard by the Commission with condition that he ought to answer to the Commission at a named time. Be that as it may, while making the most of his authoritative safeguard, Udenwa decided to intentionally skip reporting, in this way convincing the Commission to deny his regulatory safeguard pending arrangement soon”.
The suspected leaders’ names are still shrouded in secrecy from our reporter’s findings in EFCC. Top PDP Chieftains who may have been beneficiaries of the alleged campaign fund would soon be in Abuja to face the anti graft body and explain their roles.
Udewa was a Governor of Imo State under the flagship of PDP between 1999 and 2007 and became a Minister of Commerce and Industry between 2008 and 2010 under Jonathan.
Reacting on the matter a media aide to Udenwa said that their attention has been drawn to the report in several media, both electronic and print alleging
that His Excellency Chief Achike Udenwa was arrested and detained by the Economic and
Financial Crime Commission(EFCC) on the grounds that he failed to keep to his bail condition
by failing to report to the Commission when required to do so. “We may not have responded
to this but for the numerous enquiries from the media and other members of the public. Also
the above reason is very grave and portrays His Excellency as unreliable and may have other
sinister motive for not reporting when needed to do so and puts his guarantor in jeopardy.
“By a letter dated 13th May2016 , His Excellency applied and obtained permission to travel
abroad for medical treatment. Consequent upon this, the Commission released his International
Passport which the Commission has been keeping. The Commission scheduled his next visit to be13th August 2016. This date was agreed by both parties, not realising that it was a Saturday, a non working day by the Commission. On return , he contacted the officer in charge and agreed
a new date of Thursday 18th August.
Surprisingly, on Tuesday 16th August, His Excellency,while in Pot Harcourt for the PDP convention, got a call from his guarantor, that he was urgently required to report to EFCC Lagos
office by 10am on Wednesday 17th August, the day of the PDP convention and a day before
his scheduled reporting day. He obliged.
On reporting, he met another officer, whom he was directed to see. She immediately confronted
His Excellency with the fact that he has deliberately and consistently refused to honour
invitations and could no longer be reached. This was shocking, as all my dealings with the Commission should be in
the file. This was his fifth visit to the Lagos office and there has been no case of failure to report
on appointed date.
This action appears premeditated, following the sequence of events and the speed with which
the press was informed. Meanwhile, His Excellency had been put off the PDP convention.
However, the whole episode ended late the same evening.
“It is important to state categorically that His Excellency has no reason to fail to report to
the commission when required to do so as this case is about the money for the Presidential
election as it concerned all the states of the federation and not Imo state alone. As the PDP
Presidential election coordinator in Imo state His Excellency and some others involved, have explained
the details of the expenditure in the exercise as far as Imo state is concerned.His Excellency
therefore has nothing to hide”, the statement by Peter Agba added
