By Nuel Suji – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday arrested the former
governor of Imo State Achike Udenwa in connection with alleged campaign scandal at the last presidential election.
Udenwa was picked by operatives of the anti-graft agency after failing to report himself to the Commission as directed in the earlier administrative bail granted him.
The former Governor was the Imo State Co-ordinator for Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Campaign Organisation in the 2015 general elections.
He was accused of receiving the sum of N350,000,000 (Three Hundred and Fifty Million Naira Only) from the former Director of Finance for the Campaign Organisation, Sen. Nenadi Usman.
The suspect, in his statement to the Commission admitted receiving the money via Diamond Bank account No.0058805692 and 005950791 respectively on the 14th and 28th of January 2015 in three separate instalments. He added that the money came from a company named Joint Trust Dimension Limited.
This same company was charged alongside Mrs Nenadi Usman and the Media Director of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani Kayode before Federal High Court Lagos on a similar allegation.
Investigation however revealed that Achike Udenwa and one Viola Onwuliri, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and State Minister for Education, who was his deputy at the Presidential Campaign Organization were the two signatories to the Diamond Bank account that received the money.
Upon his arrest, Udenwa was immediately granted administrative bail by the commission with condition that he should be reporting to the commission at an appointed time.
But while enjoying his administrative bail, Udenwa had failed to report, thereby compelling the commission to revoke his administrative bail pending his arraignment soon.
Achike Udenwa was a governor of Imo State under the flagship of People’s Democratic Party between 1999 and 2007 and became a minister of Commerce and Industry between 2008 and 2010 under Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
