Ahead Of Possible EFCC Arrest,Governor Mulls Legal Protection

As the countdown to Governor Obiano’s second and final term in office comes to an end on the 17th of March , 2022. Anambra Times has gathered that the outgoing governor is considering seeking legal protection from any form of perceived  harassment or arrest by the agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC for fraud during his time in office as Anambra’s helmsman.

Readers would recall that the EFCC had sometime in November last year placed the outgoing governor on a travel watchlist asking the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS to inform the anti corruption agency any moment Obiano was to travel out of the country.

Initially, the Obiano administration had called the bluff of the EFCC, describing the news of alleged placement of Governor Willie Obiano on the watch list by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, as an inelegant drama. This was made known in a well crafted riposte which announced to the world that the governor had never left anyone in doubt that he would return to the United States of America after his tenure.

However, after weighing his options, Governor Obiano it is gathered had opted to get protection from the law courts, stopping the EFCC or any other anti corruption unit from stopping him from making any trip within Nigeria or from Nigeria to any part of the world. This is similar to how a former governor in Rivers State,.Governor Peter Odili and his Bayelsa counterpart, Seriake Dickson had obtained court orders restraining the EFCC from further investigating the duo. In Odili’s case, the former governor had obtained a court order restraining EFCC from prosecuting him over  the N100 billion fraud allegation levelled against him by the agency.

For Seriake Dickson, a Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa had entered a judgment order restraining the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from further investigating Senator Seriake Dickson on the issue of assets declared by him to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) between 2007 – 2020.

Obiano, it is alleged has already contracted the services of three Senior Advocates of Nigeria who will file such a suit some days to Obiano’s end of tenure, this will destabilize the agency’s resolve to invite Obiano for questioning as they would also need to appeal the judgment. This would then give Governor Obiano enough time to slip out of the country. Even if the ruling gets appealed, it would take the EFCC to employ an extradition attempt to get Obiano to  probably face charges for corruption, fraud and mismanagement of funds.  This may take ages, affording Obiano the opportunity nto perhaps cover his tracks for actions he took while in office.

Efforts by AnambraTimes to get the confirmation of the Chief Press Secretary to Obiano, James Eze and Innocent Uwuajeren of the EFCC  could not be achieved as calls and text messages sent to the duo were neither taken, returned nor replied to.