The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) rearrested former Imo State Governor Achike Udenwa on Wednesday in connection with an alleged campaign scandal committed during the 2015 presidential election.
Mr. Udenwa, as a State coordinator for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign organization in Imo State, was said to have collected the sum of N3.5m from the former senator representing Kaduna South and Director of Finance for the PDP presidential campaign organization, Nenadi Usman.
The suspect, in his statement to the commission, admitted receiving the money via Diamond Bank with account numbers 0058805692 and 005950791 on January 14 and 28, 2015, respectively, in three separate installments. He added that the money came from a company named Joint Trust Dimension Limited.
This same company was charged alongside Mrs. Nenadi Usman and the media director of the PDP presidential campaign organization, Femi Fani-Kayode, before a Federal High Court in Lagos on a similar allegation.
An investigation, however, revealed that Achike Udenwa and Viola Onwuliri, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and State Minister for Education, who was his deputy at the presidential campaign organization, were the two signatories to the Diamond Bank account that received the money.
Upon his arrest, Mr. Udenwa was immediately granted administrative bail by the commission on the condition that he reports himself to the commission at an appointed time. But while enjoying his administrative bail, Mr. Udenwa chose to deliberately skip reporting, thereby compelling the EFCC to revoke his administrative bail pending his arraignment soon.
Achike Udenwa was a governor of Imo State under the flagship of the PDP between 1999 and 2007 and became Minister of Commerce and Industry between 2008 and 2010 under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
