Former governor of Akwa Ibom state and minority leader of the senate, Godswill Akpabio, was taken into custody by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The ex-governor was reportedly taken into custody Friday evening at about 5.20pm. Akpabio was accompanied by a few aides and Mr. Rickey Tarfa.
“Yes, Akpabio is in our custody, and he is undergoing interrogation for alleged fraud and looting of Akwa Ibom funds when he was governor,” a source said.
It is understood that the investigation of Akpabio by the EFCC followed a petition from Leo Ekpenyong, an Abuja-based lawyer, who alleged that the former governor used his aides- Etekamba Umoren and Udo Isobara- to steal from the state’s treasury.
“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,” Ekpenyong said 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“For example, a whopping N18 billion was withdrawn fraudulently from the state FAAC account with the United Bank for Africa in trenches of N10 million and above by Mr.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.”
[…] Senate Minority Leader, Akpabio was quizzed on Friday and allowed to go home but returned again on Saturday to answer more questions over allegations of looting state funds during his tenure as governor. It has been emphatically stated that a citizen’s petition, not an investigation by the EFCC was the reason the agency invited Akpabio to its office, first on Friday. […]