The EFCC has arrested the immediate past Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency [NIMASA], Patrick Ziakede Akpobolokemi, two weeks after he was fired from his post.
A source in NIMASA told PT that Mr. Akpobolokemi was arrested in Lagos on Thursday morning and was detained at the Lagos office of the EFCC in the Ikoyi area of the city.
“He was taken in this morning around 10am. Some of our other officials have also been summoned while EFCC operatives have been conducting discreet investigation here. There is tension everywhere.
“One of our people just returned from EFCC and he told me the former DG is still there, sweating profusely as he was being questioned by investigators.”
The source said while at NIMASA headquarters, EFCC operatives asked questions about curious multi-billion naira transactions approved by Mr. Akpobolokemi, especially in the last days of the last government.
“For instance, they wanted to know how a whopping N13billion was spent on the acquisition of land for the permanent site of the Nigerian Maritime University in Delta,” our source said.
“They also asked about other transactions they believed were fraudulent, including transfers of millions of dollars from NIMASA accounts to other accounts.”
President Muhammadu Buhari had on July 16 sacked Mr. Akpobolokemi and directed him to immediately hand over all government property in his possession and vacate office.
There have been allegations of financial impropriety against NIMASA during Mr. Akpobolokemi’s tenure, including those which suggested the agency funded the lavish lifestyles of some Niger Delta militants and bankrolled most of the wicked campaigns against President Buhari before the elections.
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