Okorocha’s Long Walk To Detention; Returns N2.7b, Still Arrested By EFCC |The Source

By Gideon Njoku

It was always a matter of when, not a matter of if.

Every discerning Nigerian who had been following the story of the, alleged, monumental looting of Imo state, by former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, his family and cronies, knew that Tuesday, April 13, 2021, would happen; that it would come to pass. It was only a matter of time.

So, when the news broke early that evening that Okorocha has been arrested by operatives of the Economic Financial and Crimes Commission, EFCC, it did not quite come as a surprise. Said an Imo elder in Owerri, “No news there. He ought to have been arrested more than one year ago.

Okorocha’s arrest which has been confirmed by EFCC Spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, was effected by EFCC operatives in his Unity House private office, Abuja.

They swooped on him, an eye witness told this magazine.

Yet, it was not easy to arrest him, the source disclosed. There was about a five-hour stand-off before he was finally whisked away.

It is not yet, officially, public why the former Governor was arrested by the EFCC, but it may not be unconnected with the  monumental fraud he, allegedly, committed during his eight year tenure, 2011-2019.

The alleged corruption included money laundering, illegal and forcefully land acquisition, conversion of Government properties to his, padding of contracts and more.

Okorocha has been under EFCC’s watch weeks before the expiration of his tenure as Governor. On the eve of the Governorship election in 2019, during which his son-,in-law, Uche Nwosu, was his preferred candidate, the EFCC, allegedly, stopped him from withdrawing the sum of five billion Naira from a Government account.

Nwosu, who he sponsored, contested under the banner of the Action Alliance, AA, after the All Progressives Congress, APC, denied him the Governorship ticket in favour of the now Governor Uzodinma.

In 2020, the Head of the EFCC, Porthacourt office,  Imam Usman, disclosed to newsmen that the EFCC had recovered, from Okorocha, the sum of N2.7 billion,  part of the sum of N7.9billion traced to him. Out of the sum Okorocha returned, N2.5billion was given to former Governor Emeka Ihedioha, and the sum of N514million to Uzodinma, Usman revealed.

Okorocha had denied that, but the question was: Why would the Commission claim he returned money if he did not?

Since then, the Commission has been on his trail, extending invitations to him. But they were invitations he, allegedly, refused to honour, prompting the casing of his private office on Tuesday, and subsequent arrest.

This will be Okorocha’s second arrest this year. On February 21, he was arrested by the Police in Owerri when he went to, forcefully, unseal a property seized and sealed by the Imo State Government. He was taken into custody, along with 14 other people. He was released on bail, preparatory to appearing in Court the next day. He did not. Instead, while the others appeared in Court from detention, Okorocha addressed his supporters at his Spibat residence, Owerri.

The sealed property, Royal Palm Apartments and Hotel, a sprawling estate, belonged to Okorocha’s wife, Nkechi. But a Whitepaper based on the findings of a Judicial Panel of Inquiry, on Lands  And Other Related Matters, set up by former Governor Ihedioha, and sustained by Uzodinma, noted that not only was the property developed with State funds, it was also developed on verge area.

Also, already, seized from Okorocha is the Eastern Palm University, which he claimed was his. The University was approved for the State, but Okorocha said his Foundation entered into a partnership agreement with the State, while he was the Governor. The partnership gave him a 90 per cent stake, and the State, a paltry 10 per cent. However, the Panel found out the University was build with over N20b of State funds. And there are many more including acres of land meant for the staff quarters for former IBC staff which he forcefully took away, and built his school and foundation. These, a tip of the ice berg, according to those familiar with the gazzetted Whitepaper.

There is, also, the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry On Contracts which Whitepaper is being expected.

A man with a vaulting ambition, he aspires to be Nigeria’s President in 2023. His campaign for the position has since started. He publicly emphasized recenty, that  he is richer than Imo State.

It is not known how long Okorocha, who is representing Imo North in the Senate, will be with the EFCC, but as at the time of this report, Uwujaren confirms he is in custody. Reports say he is already being grilled.