Former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, was arrested in Abuja on Tuesday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly misappropriating state funds to the tune of N7.9 billion.
In recent months, there has been a running battle between the former governor and the EFCC following his claims and counterclaims that he did no wrong and that he was being witch-hunted by the EFCC and his successor, Hope Uzodinma.
The commission, which started investigating the former governor even before he left office in 2019, claimed that it traced at least N7.9 billion in different bank accounts to the former governor, now a senator representing the state in the upper chamber of the Nigerian parliament.
According to EFCC sources, Okorocha, was arrested on Tuesday at his private office in Garki District in Abuja and taken to the EFCC headquarters.
It was reported that the anti-graft agency might charge Okorocha to court immediately in order to make him account for his actions while in office as governor for eight years.
The Spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the arrest of the former governor to newsmen on Tuesday night.
He said, “It is true that our operatives picked up the former governor from his private office in the Garki area of Abuja today but I don’t have the details.”
However, the Head of the Port Harcourt Zone of the EFCC, Imam Usman, had spoken of the tracing of at least N7.9 billion in several Nigerian banks to the Sen Okorocha.
Usman said: “Within the period in review, the Commission succeeded in freezing about N7.9billion in different accounts. Out of this, N2.7billion was released to the Imo state government to enable it to pay staff salaries and pensions.
“Also, properties worth billions of Naira recovered in the course of the investigation have been forfeited to the Federal Government.”
“Only last month, N514million was further released to the incumbent administration of the state to enable it to meet its obligations to workers.
