EFCC MONITOR: Enugu commissioners arrested, Chime under investigation over N23 billion Diezani bribe

by Ajadi Daniel

The EFFC has arrested two Enugu state commissioners following investigation into the disbursement of $115 million (N23bn) by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison Madueke, during the buildup to the 2015 presidential election.

The two commissioners arrested on Wednesday were Chief Charles Egumbe, the current commissioner for water resources in the state, who was then the chairman of People’s Democratic Party Campaign Office in the state, and the commissioner for tourism, Rita Mba, who was the secretary. The Chairman of the PDP in the state during the 2015 general election, Ikeje Asogwa, was also arrested over the matter.

Johnson Babalola, the zonal head of EFCC for the South-East zone while addressing newsmen in Enugu on Wednesday revealed that Egumbe, Mba and Asogwa were detained and later released on bail.

Responding to questions by journalists, Babalola said “They were detained, they made statements and they were later released on bail.”

Babalola also stated that the EFCC was still investigating Sullivan Chime, a former governor of the state who was alleged to have received N450 million out of the N23 billion allegedly disbursed by Alison Madueke. He also revealed that the agency is also investigating how about N450 million of the N23 billion was disbursed to Abia State.