Anambra State government has said that Governor Willie
Obiano was ready to answer questions about his tenure in office, and that the
governor who is currently in the United States did not leave the country in
disguise.
This was in reaction to the news that the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has placed the governor on a watchlist. The
governor will conclude his tenure on March 17, and it’s suspected that he may
leave the country after then.
A press statement by the Anambra State government, which was
signed by the commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr C. Don
Adinuba said there was no doubt that the governor will leave the country after
his tenure as he has always announced so, but insisted that the governor was
ready to account for his years in office.
The release described the news of the governor having been
put on the commission’s watchlist as being sponsored, stating that currently,
the governor was outside the country, and legitimately travelled without
disguising himself or sneaking out.
He attributed the action of the commission as being
engineered by same people who wanted to impose a state of emergency on Anambra,
saying that the move was in retaliation of the defeat of their ambition to take
Anambra at all cost.
Adinuba’s press statement read: “Nigerians were dismayed
that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) went a new low on
Wednesday, November 24, 2021, when it sponsored media reports claiming that it
has placed Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State on its watch list.
“The EFCC 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 the anti-graft agency anytime the
governor is travelling out of the country.
“Everything that can be wrong with politically motivated
statements like this one is obviously wrong with this statement. 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. It furtively gave a section of the
media the news report it wrote based on ostensibly its letter to the NIS on
November 15.
“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.”
Adinuba said Governor Obiano has a whole four months to
remain in office as the Anambra State chief executive, and that 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.
“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.
“The EFCC should not allow itself to be used by politicians
who are mere birds of passage. 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,” the release stated.
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