Anambra State Government 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 EFCC, had, in a letter, dated November 15 and addressed to the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), said it should be informed whenever Obiano is seen attempting to travel out of the country.
Anambra State Commissioner of Information and Public Enlightenment, Don Adinuba, who spoke in an interview with TNC correspondent on Friday in Awka, described the EFCC’s action is unimaginable and politically motivated.
Adinuba further alleged that the EFCC is supervised by the Office of the AGF, who had made efforts to frustrate the recent governorship election in Anambra.
When asked who he was referring to, the commissioner said, he will repeat who these people are, saying they are the very people who did not want the election to hold in Anambra State and had the audacity to mum the idea of state of emergency in the state for security reasons, without clearance with the President.
“The whole nation knows those behind all the present histrionics about Obiano.
“They are those who didn’t want the November 6 election to hold.
“They are those in high places who unsuccessfully canvassed for emergency rule in Anambra supposedly on security grounds.
“They are those who masterminded the Birnin Kudu High Court charade in Jigawa State over the APGA leadership and, more importantly, the authentic APGA candidate in the November gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
“They are those responsible for the sacrilege of a customary court in Abuja issuing criminal summons to Professor Soludo, a former Central Bank of Nigeria governor. “These people are still fighting the gubernatorial battle on behalf of their badly defeated friends and political associates in the Anambra vote.
“They will fail badly, as they have done in the recent past,” Adinuba said.
The Anambra Information Commissioner said Nigerians were dismayed that the EFCC went a new low on Wednesday, November 24, 2021, when it sponsored media reports claiming that it has placed Governor Obiano on its watch list.
He however worried that the anti-graft agency provided no details of how Governor Obiano has been placed on its watch list, but made a reference to a letter it purportedly wrote on November 15, 2021, to the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), asking it to inform her anytime the governor is travelling out of the country.
According to him, the EFCC knows full well that it is acting inelegantly in this instance, and so has tried as much as possible not to make an official public statement on the alleged placing of Chief Obiano on the watch list.
“Governor Obiano is out of the country currently and he travelled through one of the country’s international airports.
“He did not disguise himself, but rather left the country with his identity fully disclosed at the necessary immigration point.
“The EFCC sounded more inelegant when it claimed in the sponsored press report that it received intelligence reports that the governor plans to “flee” from Nigeria once he hands over power next March 17 to the newly elected Anambra State governor, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo.
“Chief Obiano has never left any persons in doubt that he will relocate to his base in the United States once he finishes his tenure.
“As early as Wednesday, March 4, 2020, he announced his decision to a meeting of the Anambra State Council of Elders, comprising such personages as the erstwhile Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe who is also the chairman of both the Anambra State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Southeast Council of Traditional Rulers, among others.
“Governor Obiano has a whole four months to remain in office as the Anambra State chief executive.
“Nobody in Nigeria can circumscribe his constitutionally conferred immunity which shields him from both criminal and civil prosecution.
“The EFCC went too far to announce in November that it is observing him.
“We are not aware of any state governor who had up to four months to be in office and the EFCC went on to sponsor media reports that he was being investigated.
“It is, indeed strange that the EFCC is making a show that it is investigating a high public officer.
“Anti-corruption agencies, like intelligence services, conduct their investigations discreetly, and not on pages of newspapers.
“Media trial has never benefitted the EFCC,” Adinuba emphasized.
In his view, the EFCC should not allow itself to be used by politicians who are mere birds of passage.
His words; “Its ongoing Anambra drama is in bad taste.
“It did not serve Governor Obiano any notice.
“Nor did it invite him to answer questions about his service record.
“It just went to the press.
“Yet, the governor is willing to answer any questions about his years in office.
“After all, he has received a prestigious award from the United Nations Development Programme for social service integrity,” Adinuba boasted.
