EFCC Detains Okowa, former Vice-Presidential Candidate to Atiku
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested and detained the immediate past governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, and vice-presidential candidate to former
vice-president Atiku Abubakar on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general elections. The arrested former Governor was said to have used his office as governor to loot and acquire assets up to N1.3 trillion.
The former Governor the Magazine gathered from EFCC source was taken into custody in Port Harcourt, Rivers State (Zonal Office) over alleged misappropriation and embezzlement of trillions of naira belonging to Delta state during his tenure as governor.
The EFCC Spokesperson Dele Oyewale who confirmed the arrest refused to comment further. Though it would be recalled that the Network Against Corruption and Trafficking Initiative (NACAT) had in time past submitted petitions against top government officials including some Delta state government officials. Okowa was then invited for interrogation in October by the EFCC but inside source said he refused to show up
NACAT Executive Director of investigation, Tega Oghenedoro during a briefing in Abuja disclosed that the body has submitted a petition for over three months urging it to expand its investigation net to include over N3trillion allocation to Delta State under the 8 years tenure of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa but nothing has been done about it.
In the petition, Oghenedoro noted that NACAT is also requesting the ICPC and the EFCC to look into a staggering sum of N600billion that was borrowed and could not be accounted for by the past administration that has left a debt profile of N480billion and unpaid ongoing projects worth over N150 billion.
Also, Edwin Clark, convener of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), has alleged that Ifeanyi Okowa, former governor of Delta State misappropriated the state’s derivation fund amounting to N1.760 trillion.
Clark said he had written to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the involvement of Okowa in the floating of Premium Bank, which he allegedly used to lodge all the derivations.
Also, a Delta State indigene and journalist, Mr Fejiro Oliver said
“We didn’t write to EFCC that Okowa stole the whole of it but that he misappropriated it via shabby awards to friends, family and cronies with most of them not done and the few ones done didn’t meet quality while some came back for variation, just to divert the funds.”
Furthermore, he said “We petitioned that only N500 billion was actually stolen by him while the rest are unaccounted for, which he has to answer for. The UTM N20 billion loan he took is what we can’t find where the money is, where as Delta state pays 9% interest rate on the money every year till date. Imagine paying 9% of N20 billion yearly for a project that’s not seen and not actually worth it. Over N3 trillion came to Delta State under former governor Okowa from FAAC, Ecological funds, UBEC counterpart funding, World Bank funds, IGR and 13% derivation funds”.
Oliver promised to start posting documents of all the contracts awarded by former governor Okowa beginning from next week so that people can go to the places Okowa claimed to have awarded the projects to verify if they exist or assess their present conditions.
Okowa, a trained medical doctor served as the senator representing Delta North from 2011 to 2019. Before then, he served as the Secretary to the Delta State Government. His arrest inside source said may not be unconnected with the alleged diversion of funds said to be part of the 13 percent derivation fund earmarked for oil-producing states among others allegations. How the former Governor will get out of the mess remains to be seen.