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NEWS & LIFE

BREAKING: EFCC arrests Theodore Orji, son over N48bn security vote

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested former Governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji, for alleged embezzlement of N48bn.

His son, Chinedu, was said to have been arrested with him.

The two leaders are also expected to account for N2billion Ecological Fund and conversion of Sure-P funds.

According to ‘The Nation’, the ex-Governor was intercepted at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja before boarding a flight, while his son reported to the EFCC headquarters.

“He is being quizzed alongside his son, Chinedu, the current Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, who turned himself in this afternoon upon learning of the arrest of his father.

“Senator Orji and his sons, Chinedu and Ogbonna, are under investigation by the EFCC for offences bordering on misappropriation of public funds and money laundering.

“The ex- Governor is alleged to have collected N500million monthly as security vote for eight years as governor of Abia state between 2007 and 2015.

“Other issues relate to the alleged mismanagement of N2billion Ecological Fund and conversion of Sure-P funds,” a source is quoted as saying.

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NEWS & LIFE POLITICS

EFCC seals property belonging to ex-Abia governor, Theodore Orji

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has traced some property suspected to be from proceeds of fraud to former Abia governor, Sen. Theodore Orji.

Spokesperson of the commission, Mr Dele Oyewale disclosed this on Thursday in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Enugu.

Oyewale said the property which were sealed in Umuahia, the state capital on June 24, 2020 were traced to the former governor in the course of ongoing investigations of Orji’s alleged financial malfeasance.

The property sealed by the EFCC included, the Abia Mall which accommodates ShopRite and other business entities, Benac Hotels opposite Broadcasting Corporation of Abia.

Also sealed was a housing estate situated at former Umuahia Main Market.

“Our investigations show that the property belongs to Theodore Orji and as part of the investigations, we have to seal them. That is exactly what we have done,” he said.

Oyewale said that investigations into the alleged financial fraud perpetrated by the former governor was ongoing, adding that the suspect would be charged to court in due time.

“We cannot give a time frame within which to charge him to court because our investigations are always thorough and very diligent,” he said.

The EFCC spokesperson said that the commission usually collaborated with and relies on information from relevant agencies during its investigations.

“The sealed property are proof of the ongoing investigations and the probe will determine if more will be sealed,” Oyewale said.

Sen. Orji, who represents Abia Central Senatorial zone in the National Assembly, was Abia governor between 2007 and 2015.

He had been under investigation by the anti-graft agency since 2018 for allegedly misappropriating over N48 billion.

This followed a petition by a group, Fight Corruption: Save Nigeria Group.

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EDUCATION HEADLINES Uncategorized

My security vote was N410m per month – Theodore Orji

Former Governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji, has said that his security vote was 410m per month.

That was between 2008 and 2015.

In 2007, however, the vote was N370m.

The information is par the details that Orji allegedly gave the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, as reported by ‘The Nation’.

According to the report, he said the totalamount he got for security votes was N38.8b, which, he said, he exhausted while in office.

The story adds:
He said he collected N38.8billion as security votes during the period and not N48billion as alleged by the EFCC.

Orji, who is currently representing Abia Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, said he shared much of the N38billion with members of the state House of Assembly, his security informants and traditional rulers.

He claimed to have also given part of the money to military units, the police,the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and security agencies as what he called statutory allocations.

In a tell-it-all statement to his interrogators,the former governor said he gave successive members of the State House of Assembly N5. 760billion, at N60million per month, in the eight years.

He also claimed to have paid N75million monthly to security informants in 15 of the 17 local government areas of the state within the same period.

The yet-to-be identified informants allegedly pocketed a total of N7.200 billion between 2007 and 2015.

Some of the security agencies,according to him, received N2million per month.

However, he told the interrogators that he does not have a comprehensive list of all the beneficiaries of the largesse because the Government House staff who used to disburse the cash is no more.

He gave the man’s name simply as Felix.

Orji said he did not ask for the list from Felix at the expiration of his tenure as governor.

He only issued directives to Felix on how to share the security votes.

He also said he never collected cash either from the Director of Finance or the Cashier in Government House.

The EFCC insists that Orji collected N48billion in eight years.

It has retrieved five huge bags of documents from the relevant desks in Abia State on the ex-governor’s financial transactions.

Based on Orji’s confessions, the EFCC is expected to arraign him in court soon being in what a source described as “a straightforward case.”

The Nation gathered that the former governor made the revelations during a session on oath in the presence of his lawyer, who he referred to as Edmund.

It was the first time Orji would open up after many years of trying to make him respond to allegations against him.

Orji said he received “N370million monthly as security votes in 2007 and N410million monthly from 2008 to 2015.”

He said from the “time I resumed office and left, the funds were distributed in cash. There are also statutory funds to the security agencies.”