Former Minister of Labour and one-time Anambra State governor, Chris Ngige, is currently in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), his media aide, Fred Chukwuelobe, has confirmed.
Chukwuelobe clarified the situation in a Thursday morning update, dismissing viral reports that Ngige had been abducted.
“I have been receiving calls in the past hour from friends and journalists seeking the veracity of the news making the rounds that His Excellency, Dr. Chris Ngige, former governor of Anambra state and immediate past minister of labour and employment, ‘has been kidnapped, Ngige is with the EFCC. He was not ‘abducted’ or ‘kidnapped’,’” he wrote on Facebook.
As of the time of filing this report, the EFCC has not commented on the circumstances surrounding Ngige’s detention, leaving the reasons unclear.
His detention comes shortly after another prominent figure from the Buhari administration, former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, was also taken into EFCC custody.
Malami revealed he is being investigated over the recovery of the “Abacha loot.”
“The EFCC informed me that its inquiry relates to an alleged duplication in the recovery of the $310 million Abacha loot, which by accrual of interest rose to about $322.5 million as at the time I eventually succeeded in recovering the funds for the federal Government and, flowing from that assumption, two allegations were majorly raised, namely; abuse of office, and Money laundering,” Malami said in a statement.
He described the allegations as baseless and illogical, insisting they would crumble under scrutiny.
