Former Edo State governor Lucky Igbinedion has been grilled by EFCC for corruption and mismanagement of N2.9b~details below

Corruption, mismanagement and embezzlement has been observed to have eaten deep and had clothed the Nigerian system of government from independent 1960 till date, and this had retrogressed the development of the country.

It is no longer a news that the Nigerian political terrain for decades had been politically highjacked by corruption and has dehumanized and deprived the  citizenry from their rights.

Bairly few days ago PPR chairman Abdulrasheed Maina was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for money laundering and mismanagement which had made up various headlines.

The former governor of Edo State from 1999 to 2007, Mr Lucky Igbinedionhas been convicted for embezzlement of  2.9 billion naira money belonging to the state in December 2008. 

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained a former governor of Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion, over alleged criminal diversion of public funds to the tune of N1.6 billion.

According to a valid sources said, the former governor was detained by detectives at EFCC’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.

Meanwhile, the former governor reportedly arrived the commission’s headquarters around 2p.m. and was still under interrogation as of the time of this report.

But the new investigation, according to sources is based on fresh evidence that the former governor diverted a loan obtained by the Edo State government to settle the financial indebtedness of a company in which he was said to have been a shareholder.

But Mr Wilson Uwujaren, spokesperson for the commission, confirmed the invitation of the former governor but declined further comment.

However, a plea bargain agreement he entered into with the EFCC, the 191 charges were pruned down to only one count to which Mr Igbinedion pleaded guilty.

In exchange for his guilty plea, the Federal High Court in Enugu sentenced him to six months’ imprisonmeont with an option of N3.5 million fine.

The judge, Abdu Kafarati, now deceased also ordered the forfeiture of the N500 million, and three properties, including one in Abuja, seized from him.

EFCC had in reaction to the verdict expressed its dissatisfaction with the option of fine given the former governor.