Alleged N108bn Fraud: EFCC Seizes Akpabio’s Wife’s School
A school allegedly belonging to Unoma
Akpabio, the wife of the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State,
Godswill Akpabio, has been seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission.
It was learnt that the seizure was part
of investigations into the former governor who has been accused of
alleged N108bn fraud during his tenure from 2007 to 2015.
One of our correspondents who visited
the school, St. John Paul II School, in Shelter Afrique, Uyo, Akwa Ibom
State, observed that the school had been marked “under investigation by
EFCC.”
It was learnt that the EFCC resorted to
marking the school instead of shutting it 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 as of Wednesday, one of our correspondents
who called at the school observed that a police van was stationed
outside the gate.
A senior employee of the school, who
refused to disclose his identity, only asked one of our correspondents
to observe the ambience around the school.
He added that he was not capable to comment on any development relating to the EFCC and the school’s proprietor.
According to him, the school is serene with normal academic activities taking place.
The spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, could not be reached on the telephone on Wednesday.
However, a senior operative at the commission confirmed that the school had been seized.
“I understand our operatives were recently in Akwa Ibom and did mark a school as ‘under investigation,’” he said.
Efforts to get Akpabio’s reaction failed
as his media aide, Mr. Anietie Ekong, failed to pick calls made to his
mobile phone on Wednesday night.
Ekong had told one of our correspondents
on Tuesday that he was not aware of the seizure and would contact his
boss on the matter.
When called again on Wednesday, he neither picked his calls nor reply a text message sent to him, asking for Akpabio’s response.
The PUNCH had exclusively reported in
August 2016 that the EFCC is intensifying investigation into the former
governor and was planning to seize his properties and freeze accounts
linked to him.
The EFCC had written five banks demanding information on Akwa Ibom State finances under Akpabio’s administration.
The commission also invited key members
of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and serving commissioners many
of whom served during the ex-governor’s administration.
A source at the EFCC said, “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 traced some houses to the former governor in Lagos and Abuja and it is just a matter of time before we seize them.”
The EFCC had started looking into
Akpabio last year when he was first quizzed by detectives following a
series of petitions written against him.
Akpabio, who is now the Senate Minority
Leader, was accused of embezzling public funds while he was governor of
the oil-rich state.
He was accused of lavish spending such
that on March 2013, he openly gave N1m each to the six chairmen of the
Peoples Democratic Party from the South-South geopolitical zone who had
converged on Port Harcourt for a party reconciliation session and told
them to use the money to ‘buy Mr. Biggs’
As the commission was investigating the
ex-governor, the Akwa Ibom State Government, headed to a state High
Court to get an interim order barring the EFCC from investigating his
administration.
The Justice Ntong Ntong-led court on
July 15, 2016, granted an interim injunction, restraining the EFCC, the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission; and
the Inspector-General of Police from investigating the finances of the
Akwa Ibom State Government.
The suit was filed on behalf of the
state government by the state Attorney General, Uwemedimo Nwoko, who
also served under Akpabio and is believed to be loyal to the former
governor.
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