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EFCC Arrests Kalu, Turaki • Celebrations, protests in Jigawa •Kalu heads for court By Paul Ohia in Lagos, Taiwo Olawale in Dutse and Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia, 07.12.2007
Two former governors, Alhaji Saminu Turaki (Jigawa) and Chief Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), were yesterday arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Their arrests, according to the commission, followed the refusal of the duo to honour invitations extended to them to answer certain questions on their stewardships in their respective states between 1999 and 2007. A terse statement issued by EFCC’s spokesman, Mr. Osita Nwajah, last night read: “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has executed warrants of arrest duly issued by court, on Messrs Orji Uzor Kalu and Saminu Turaki, former executive governors of Abia and Jigawa States, respectively. The warrants were executed early on Wednesday, 11 July 2007 in Abuja. “Whereas other former governors invited to answer questions about their tenure in office responded and were questioned by officials of the commission, the arrest of the former governors of Abia and Jigawa States became imperative following their pointed refusal to honour several invitations of the EFCC, over a period of nearly two months. “Messrs Orji Kalu and Saminu Turaki are presently answering questions on allegations of conspiracy to steal, abuse of office, diversion of public funds and money laundering among others. “The commission wishes to restate its commitment to fulfilling its mandate of ridding Nigeria of all vestiges of economic and financial crime.” The commission did not give further details on how and where they were arrested and how long the interrogation would take. Kalu has, however, filed a “notice of consequence” after which contempt of proceedings may be taken against the EFCC for arresting him, his media adviser, Iyke Ekeoma, told THISDAY yesterday. He said: “The immediate past governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, was today invited by the EFCC in Abuja. The former governor who was on his way back from the United States of America, obliged the invitation as a fulfilment of an earlier invitation by the body to answer to some allegations." Ekeoma said the manner of the invitation by the EFCC this time around was viewed as an affront on judicial proceedings. "This is in view of the fact that there is a subsisting court order restraining the EFCC or any of its agents from harassing, intimidating or arresting the ex-Governor. Since the EFCC cannot operate outside the law, this latest invitation should be considered as a flagrant disobedience to court order," he said. The order was allegedly secured by Kalu from Federal High Court, Abuja, on May 31 and subsists until the substantive suit is heard. Turaki’s arrest may not be unconnected with the liabilities he left behind in Jigawa. While he had reported a debt profile of about N40 billion, the Transition Committee set up by the new administration reported a debt of N137 billion. He was said to have approached ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua seeking them to stop the EFCC from interrogating him. Sources said it was when this did not yield a positive result that he decided to go to a Federal High Court in Kano to seek an injunction restraining the EFCC and the verification panel set up by the state government from arresting or investigating him. A few weeks ago, the commission had visited the state to examine government records and interrogate his former aides. Kazaure, the home town of Turaki, erupted in a mixture of celebration and protest as news of the arrest of the former governor filtered into town yesterday. The news was first broken on the Hausa Service of the BBC in the afternoon. His supporters in Kazaure town then took to the streets, protesting against the arrest. As the youths marched through the streets chanting ‘Kariya ne’ (It is not true), anti-Turaki youths started celebrating, calling the former governor unprintable names. Dutse, the state capital, was however calm as people went about their normal business. People were seen standing in groups discussing the development. Senior civil servants and government officials refused to comment on the issue. Alhaji Farouk Adamu Aliyu, a former member of the House of Representatives and one-time gubernatorial aspirant in the state, told THISDAY that he had been vindicated by the story. “If it is confirmed, it means we have been vindicated. We have been telling the world all this while that the former governor has a case to answer over the way he managed the recourses of the state.” But one of the closest aides of the embattled former governor, Alhaji Lawan Ya’u Roni, denied knowledge of the arrest. He said he had just returned from an overseas trip and was unaware of the status of his former boss. Roni, who was SSG under the Turaki administration for about four years, said: “Many people have called me to ask me but I am not in a position to confirm or deny the alleged arrest. I have just returned to the country from Umrah (lesser Hajj).” When contacted on the travails of the former Jigawa State governor, Turaki, the Special Adviser to Governor Sule Lamido on Media and Publicity, Mr. Adagbo Onoja, refused to confirm the story. He however told THISDAY that the Governor would be reacting officially to the story when more details emerged. He said the incident was a federal operation over which the state had no control over. "The purported arrest is a federal operation over which the state has no control," he said. Kalu had been having a running battle with the EFCC, which, because of Kalu’s constitutional immunity, resorted to arresting his former aides including the present governor of the state, Chief Theodore Ahamefula Orji, who spent over 90 days in the custody of the anti-graft agency before he got bail from the Court of Appeal. Other officials who were picked up in the process of stalking Kalu included the commissioner for finance, Moses Agoh, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, S.E Iheaka and the Chief Accountant of government house, James Udeogu. The EFCC had also made attempt early this year to arrest Mrs. Eunice Uzor Kalu, the mother of the former governor at her GRA Aba residence but the nocturnal mission failed prompting government to scream that the federal government had sent hired assassins to kill the founder of Reality Organisation Worldwide. After the failed EFCC raid, Mrs. Kalu left the country. However, the embattled woman sneaked back into the country shortly before the commencement of the 2007 general elections and was holed up in his son’s country home at Igbere, Bende Local Government area.
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