Abia state, Umuahia – Senator Theodore Orji, a former governor of Abia state, has dismissed as misleading, media reports that a Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered interim forfeiture of N228.4 million traced to him.
TimesNow.com.ng reported that on Wednesday, January 8, Theodore Orji was ordered to temporarily forfeit N228.4 million linked to his account to the federal government.
Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the temporary freezing and forfeiture following an ex-parte order filed by the EFCC.
The EFCC alleged that the funds were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities, including conspiracy, abuse of office, and diversion of public funds.
In a swift reaction to the development, the former governor who said he was embarrassed by the trending report, credited to the News Agency of Nigeria, explained that he had no pending suit before any court on the said subject.
Senator Orji further asserted that the persons said to have been arrested in connection with the case were never his Aides nor business allies as erroneously reported in the said report.
As reported by Vanguard, the former governor who spoke through his Aide, Hon. Ifeanyi Umere, expressed shock that a reputable news agency like NAN could commit such a costly error of fact.
He said:
Read more about the EFCC here:
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu has explained that the best way to fight corruption is to tackle its root causes.
At a media chat, the president stressed the importance of improving the standard of living, providing fair wages, and making basic amenities available to the people as a means of fighting corruption.
Tinubu also stressed that one of the roles of the EFCC was to block the loopholes in government agencies and parastatals.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
