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AKPABIO RETURNS TO EFCC FOR MORE QUESTIONING

Akpabio quizzed
The former governor of  Akwa Ibom state and Senate minority leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has returned to the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for more questioning after Friday’s alleged arrest and eventual release.
According to Channels Television, a source close to the EFCC says that Senator Akpabio returned to the EFCC at about 10am on Saturday, October 17.
The former governor was accompanied by his counsel and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Rikey Tarfa and some aides.
Premium Times reports that as soon as the former governor arrived at the commission, he was moved into the interrogation room, a source said.
It was reported that the counsel and aides to the former governor watched helplessly as the anti-graft operatives led him away.
Sources disclosed that there indications that the senator might be spending the day with the anti-graft commission.
The former governor had admitted that he was summoned by the anti-graft body to respond to several allegations of corruption against him stressing that he was not arrested but only honoured the commission’s invitation on his own free will.
There had been a petition forwarded to the ant-graft commission and President Muhammadu Buhari in June by an Abuja-based lawyer and activist, Leo Ekpenyong, on the fraudulent issues leading to withdrawals of billions of naira and aquisitions of various properties both in Abuja and Lagos.
As a result of the petition, the crimes commission had investigated the matter.
The lawyer had disclosed that between January and December 2014, the ex-governor colluded with the former government house permanent secretary, Etekamba Umoren, and the former accountant general of the state to steal a whopping N108.1 billion from the state’s treasury.
He said in the petition: “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.
“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“For example, a whopping N18 billion was withdrawn fraudulently from the state FAAC account with the United Bank for Africa in trenches of N10 million and above by Mr Isobara in a surreptitious manner to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.”
Confirming the petition by Ekpenyong, Akpabio said: “A young lawyer from my state has been petitioning the EFCC accusing me of corruption,” the former governor said. “So shortly before I got involved in an accident in August, the EFCC summoned me to come and respond to the allegations.
“But following the accident, I wasn’t well enough to honour the EFCC summon. And I let them know. “So today, since I’m now well, and the Senate did not sit, I decided to honour the EFCC so as to answer questions concerning the allegations against me.
The ex-governor said that he wasn’t arrested and that he walked in there all by himself noting that he was back at home.
He said that the EFCC operatives were professional adding that they asked questions which he in turn answered.



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