former Governors of Akwa Ibom and Katsina states, Godswill Akpabio and Ibrahim Shema respectively, it is not only raining, it is pouring. This is because fresh indications have presently emerged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission may be tightening the noose around their necks over ongoing graft charges against them.
A source at the anti-graft agency who spoke to The New Diplomat revealed that plans have been completed to identify and confiscate properties belonging to Akpabio.
“We have written to Zenith Bank, Keystone Bank, FCMB, Skye Bank, and UBA demanding information on the state’s accounts. We are also inviting the accountant-general, the auditor-general, the Speaker and the Clerk of the House of Assembly.
“We have also traced some houses to the former governor in Lagos and Abuja and it is just a matter of time before we seize them,” the source squealed
Further information at the disposal of The New Diplomat has it that the recent seizure of a school allegedly belonging to the former First Lady of Akwa Ibom State, Mrs. Unoma Akpabio, is not unconnected with ongoing investigations of an alleged N108billion fraud levelled against the former governor during his tenure which ran from 2007 through 2015.
The school, St. John Paul II School located in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has been marked, “under investigation by EFCC.”
It was learnt that the EFCC resorted to marking the school instead of shutting it down so that innocent parents and students who had paid school fees would not be adversely affected.
The school, it was learnt, had been under the watchful eyes of the EFCC considering the enormous amount said to have been sunk into its construction.
Although normal academic activities were still ongoing in the school, it was observed that a police van had been stationed outside the gate.
Since August 2016, EFCC had intensified investigation into the former governor’s affairs and was planning to seize his properties and freeze accounts linked to him.
The commission also invited key members of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and serving commissioners, many of whom had served as part of the ex-governor’s administration.
Akpabio, who is now the Senate Minority Leader, was first quizzed by detectives following a series of petitions against him which alleged that he had embezzled public funds while he was governor of the oil-rich state.
Also, the EFCC recently sealed off some properties belonging to a former governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema.
Shema, who was recently arrested by operatives of the commission at the premises of the State High Court fingered the incumbent governor, Aminu Masari, as being behind his woes.
A mild drama ensued when he broke down in tears, begging operatives of the EFCC not to arrest him after appearing in court.
As he made to leave the court premises, EFCC officials blocked Shema’s black Lexus sports utility vehicle and re-arrested him. This led to a face-off between security operatives and Shema’s counsel and aides which lasted over 40 minutes at the gate of the court on Daura Road.
When it became obvious he could not evade the arrest, Shema burst into tears.
His ordeal may not be unconnected with allegations by the Governor Aminu Bello Masari’s administration that the former governor diverted about N76 billion belonging to the state government while he was in office.
