Former Governor of Delta State Ifeanyi Okowa visited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission office on Awolowo Road in Lagos to obtain his international passport.
POLITICS NIGERIA reported that the former governor was on Monday seen at the commission’s Lagos office as part of the ongoing investigation into his case.
Sources within the anti-graft agency stated that the visit was part of his efforts to retrieve the travel document to enable him to travel abroad to attend to ongoing medical issues.
“No, he was not arrested; he was at the commission’s Lagos office as part of the ongoing investigation into his case. Also, he made moves to secure the release of his international passport to attend to some medical issues abroad,” The Punch Newspaper quoted a source.
Despite these details, it remains unclear whether the former governor succeeded in obtaining the travel document before leaving the office.
The anti-graft agency has maintained possession of Okowa’s passport since his initial arrest on November 4, 2024, at the Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate, where he was subsequently questioned and later granted bail.
The restriction is part of an investigation into allegations that he diverted N1.3 trillion in 13 per cent derivation funds received by Delta State from the Federation Account between 2015 and 2023.
Additionally, the commission is investigating claims that the former governor failed to account for another N40 billion which was allegedly used to acquire shares in a major commercial bank and the UTM Floating Liquefied Natural Gas project.
The allegations remain under active investigation by the anti-graft agency, though the former governor strongly denied the claims following his release.
He said, “To successfully take N1.3tn, it means you have to be taking between N16bn and N20bn every month into your pocket. I don’t even know if the President of this country will be able to do that, not to talk of the governor of Delta State. They have forgotten that the first three years we came into office – 2015, 2016 and 2017 – the money that was coming into the state was not even enough to pay salaries at all.”
Apart from the ongoing financial probe, Okowa recently contested the All Progressives Congress primary election for the Delta North senatorial position. Although the ruling party has not officially announced the final outcomes, unverified results circulating online indicate that he won the primary election.