Senate Minority Leader Senator Godswill Akpabio, late Friday, faced the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), at its Abuja office, over charges of corruption and mismanagement of funds running into multi-billions of naira, during his tenure as governor of Akwa Ibom State.
This is just as the former governor has issued a statement claiming that he was never arrested by the EFCC but instead, invited to clarify some issues at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja.
Akpabio was reportedly arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja, late Frida over allegations by the EFCC that he stole N108.1billion of Akwa Ibom funds in June.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation indicate that under Akpabio, Akwa Ibom received a staggering N1. 6 trillion from the FAAC between June 2007 and May 2014.
At the time he vacated office on May 29, the state received more, excluding other revenues like Ecological Funds, internally generated revenue etc.
In a new petition to the EFCC dated June 22, and copied to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, one Mr. Leo Ekpenyong gave details of some of Mr. Akpabio’s alleged financial recklessness.
He alleged that between January and December 2014, the ex-governor colluded with two of his top aides to steal a whopping N108.1 billion from the state’s treasury.
Through his Twitter handle, @SenAkpabio, the former governor responded to claims of his arrest, stating that he was only invited for a chat and not arrested.
@SenAkpabio: Senator Akpabio was never arrested. He simply obliged an invitation to come & answer some questions at EFCC (8: 15pm 16 October 2015)
Also responding, early Friday, Akpabio’s media aide, Jackson Udom, denied that the senate minority leader was arrested. Udom stated that “Senator Akpabio went to EFCC this evening on his own volition based on some spurious allegation by one Leo Ekpenyong to the EFCC.”
“This evening, Senator Akpabio left his Abuja residence to honour an invitation by the EFCC. So the issue of being arrested is certainly out of it. Media practitioners should be able to differentiate between an arrest and an invitation so that the reading public would not be misled,” Udom said.
It would be recalled that the Akwa Ibom State National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, Wednesday, had affirmed Akpabio, as the winner of Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial Seat.
In its judgement, the tribunal headed by Goddy Anunihu, dismissed the petition that was lodged against Akpabio’s election by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its candidate for the Senatorial District, Chief Inibehe Okori.
The tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove that the erstwhile governor was not validly nominated by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to contest the March 28, 2015, National Assembly election.
It held that the fact that Akpabio was in an initial list that was sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, by the PDP, erroneously identified as the Senatorial candidate for Akwa Ibom North East, did not invalidate his election.
“There is abundant evidence that the electorates, including the petitioners, were not in any way deceived as to the Senatorial District which the 1st respondent was nominated to contest the election.
“There is also uncontroverted evidence that the 1st petitioner bought the form of the 3rd Respondent (PDP) for the same Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District before he lost the ticket and decamped to the APC”.
Noting that INEC, had 30 days before the election took place, published names of all the candidates for the election and their Senatorial Districts, the tribunal, maintained that, “If the petitioners had any reason to believe that the 1st respondent was not qualified to contest the election, they would have taken up the matter immediately and do the needful”.
It held that the election that produced Akpabio was done in substantial compliance to the Electoral Act, 2010.
“We hold that the petitioners are not therefore entitled to any of the reliefs they sought in this petition and it is therefore accordingly dismissed”.
The tribunal ordered the petitioners to pay a cost of N30, 000 to each of the three respondents in the matter.
