EFCC grants Obiano bail after 5 days in detention

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has granted the former governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, bail.

The EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, made the disclosure while speaking to newsmen on the sideline of the 5th Annual General Assembly meeting of the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa in Abuja on Monday.

Bawa, however, did not disclose the details of the bail.

When asked why the anti-graft agency has kept Obiano in its custody beyond the period allowed by the constitution, the EFCC boss said there was nothing political about the former governor’s investigation.

“He has been granted bail. There is nothing political about the investigation. You know what the EFCC stands for.

“We investigate crimes, we look at people that have committed crime and we link it up together and then we go to court.

“That is all we have been doing and that is what we will continue to do.

“We have been accused of media trial. But we will continue to do our investigations professionally,” he said.

Bawa added that the commission was waiting for the former governor to perfect his bail.

Obiano, who is under investigation over alleged misappropriation of N42 billion belonging to Anambra State, was arrested last Thursday at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos on his way to Houston, United States.

The former governor was arrested hours after handing over to the new Anambra Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo.

The anti-graft agency said Obiano had been on its watch list for months but the immunity enjoyed by a sitting governor prevented his arrest.

EFCC had requested the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to provide information on the former governor’s movement out of the country from airports, or other points of exit from the country.

The Star