The Government of Anambra State has accused the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), of allegedly being behind the recent move by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against the state governor, Willie Obiano.
The state Commissioner of Information and Public Enlightenment, Don Adinuba, on Thursday alleged that the EFCC is supervised by the Office of the AGF, noting that Malami had made efforts to frustrate the recent governorship election in Anambra.
Adinuba, who spoke on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television which was monitored by Africa Today News, New York on Thursday, stated that EFCC’s action is politically motivated.
He said, ‘Nobody invited him (the governor) to interrogate him or hear his own side of the story. No petition was presented to him. He did not make any comments. But all of a sudden, the EFCC announced rather secretly…using the media as a third party…to announce that he is being watched. That is very surprising. There is absolutely no reason for that. And worse, the EFCC gave the impression that the governor wants to bolt away when he has a while four months to remain in office.
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‘It is unimaginable that a governor will abandon a state a whole four months to the end of his tenure. That is surprising. It just does not make sense to anyone simply because the whole exercise is politically motivated.’
When asked who he was referring to, the commissioner said, ‘I will repeat who these people are. The very people who did not want election to hold in Anambra State and had the audacity to tell the whole nation that the election was not going to hold for security reasons, without clearance with the President.
‘Immediately the President got to know of this plot, he was alarmed and said ‘no, the election must hold in Anambra and it must be free and fair’. And the election actually became free, fair and transparent, and its outcome is in sync with the sentiments and expectations of the generality of not only Anambra people but all Nigerians.
‘Consequently, Soludo’s victory became a national phenomenon. These people have tried everything possible to stop AGPA’s representative, Soludo, and consequently winning the election. They went as far as approving a Customary Court in Abuja to obtain summons – criminal summons – on Soludo. They went as far as arranging a kangaroo judgment from a High Court in Jigawa State over the chairmanship of APGA and more importantly the authentic candidate of APGA in the November 6 gubernatorial election in Anambra State.’
Africa Today News, New York had earlier reported that Nigeria’s anti-corruption unit, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has placed the outgoing Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, on a watchlist, ahead of the handover of government in the State from March next year.
This was contained in a letter to the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) dated November 15, 2021 which was obtained by Africa Today News, News York on Wednesday.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK