Former Imo State Governor, Dr Achike Udenwa Arrested By EFCC For Allegedly Collecting N350,000,000, His Share Of The Arms Deal Fund!

Information making rounds has it that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) today re-arrested former Imo State governor, Achike Udenwa in connection with alleged campaign fund emanating from arms deal saga. 

Udenwa who served as Imo State Coordinator for PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation during the last presidential election was said to have collected the sum of N350,000,000 (Three Hundred and Fifty Million Naira Only) from the former senator representing Kaduna South and Director of Finance for the PDP presidential campaign organisation, 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 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 chose to deliberately skip reporting, 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