Huhuonline.com understands that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday arrested the immediate past Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Obiano’s arrest came a few hours after he handed over the reins of power in Anambra to Professor Charles Soludo, who was sworn in as the new governor on Thursday.
Obiano was arrested as he tried to board a flight to the United States of America at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
His arrest did not come to many as a surprise, as he had been on the watch list of the anti-graft agency while in office, but was shielded by the immunity conferred on him by the office of the governor.
His brushes with the security agencies started last year, when the EFCC asked a sister agency, the Nigeria Immigration Service, to place Obiano on a watch list. It asked the NIS to alert it anytime the then governor was sighted on at the port trying to leave the country.
The arrangement by the agencies was said to have worked against the former governor on Thursday, as the NIS on sighting Obiano at the airport, quickly alerted the EFCC. He was said to have been arrested at about 8:30 pm in Lagos.
Unconfirmed reports say the former governor has been accused of allegedly mismanaging more than N17bn Paris Club refund and security vote.
There are also allegations against him that his administration inflated the cost of the Umueri International Airport, the state-owned airport that began operations in 2021.
