EFCC grills ex-Akwa Ibom gov, Udom, over alleged N700b fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel, over an alleged fraud amounting to N700 billion.

Emmanuel, who held the position of governor from 2015 to 2023, is said to have arrived at the EFCC’s main office in Abuja at approximately 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, responding to an invitation from the anti-corruption agency.

A top official close to The Guardian noted: “We are currently interrogating the former governor of Akwa Ibom over an alleged N700 billion fraud.”

Recall that the Network Against Corruption and Trafficking (NACAT), last month, stormed the corporate headquarters of the EFCC to demand a probe into security votes allocated to both present and past state governors.

In a petition tabled before the anti-graft agency, NACAT noted that it has painstakingly investigated and audited many of the financial records of the states available to it, particularly that of Akwa Ibom State, and discovered wanton corruption and embezzlement of public funds in 2018 alone. It decided to hand over the matter to the EFCC, the government agency empowered by law to look into economic and financial crimes for further investigation and prosecution.

According to NACAT’s operations manager, Stanley Ugagbe, over N3 trillion was allocated to Akwa Ibom State under the eight-year tenure of Emmanuel Udom, but a staggering sum of N700 billion was diverted, in addition to over N500 billion borrowed to undertake futile projects across the state.

He informed the commission that over N4.5 billion was withdrawn and claimed to have been given to security agencies in a space of six months, adding that over N10 billion was spent in just 2018 as security votes, in addition to the withdrawal of a total of N4,665,000,000 (Four Billion Six Hundred and Sixty-Five Million Naira) from the OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR OF AKSG into a Wema Bank account number 0122882810.

Reacting to the development, an anti-corruption expert, Light Shedrack, insisted that leaders are supposed to be accountable to the people who elected them into office and that every kobo received by them must be accounted for.
He noted: “One kobo in the name of security vote does not belong to any governor. Yes, for any reason, because of security peculiarities. Yes, they are the chief security officer of that state. But accountability for that money— that money doesn’t belong to them. It is not their money. It is state funds.

“They are servants. I have spent N1 billion protecting you, the people of Akwa Ibom; this is how I spent it, and that is why he was smart. He actually mentioned security institutions. But the issue is that the money raised in the name of those security institutions— were those monies given to them?

“That is where these people get so smart. The money belongs to the people of Akwa Ibom. He has to account for how he spent it. No security vote belongs to the governor. It belongs to the state that has it. He should account for how he spent it. It is not his money.”

Also, a lawyer, Ojefia Justice, noted that security agencies saddled with the responsibility of carrying out investigations and prosecutions should be alive to their responsibilities, irrespective of the nature of the matter, so long as it is a financial crime.

According to the lawyer, Section 308 of the Constitution, which guarantees governors immunity, does not stop them from accounting for taxpayers’ funds and urged the appropriate security agency to invite those accused as well as those making allegations to substantiate and defend their allegations.