Governor Theodore Orji Accused Of Stealing N474 Billion From Abia State, Save Abia Group Petitions EFCC.A group which says it is a voluntary association of concerned Abia citizens, Save Abia Initiative for Change (SAIC), has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), detailing how the
erstwhile governor, Chief Theodore Orji, his wife, Mercy
Odochi, their son, Chinedum (a.k.a Ikuku) and few of their cronies allegedly
squandered N474 billion of Abia State funds between 2011 and this year.
In
the petition marked SAIC/PET/001/15, and dated July 3, 2015, addressed to the
Chairman of EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde and titled, “How ex-governor T.A Orji
squandered N474 billion of Abia State Government funds leaving an external
debt of $35.9m (N8 billion)” and signed by 20 persons, a copy of which was
obtained by Daily Sun, Orji was alleged to have frittered away Abia’s N474
billion into his pocket, that of his immediate family and few of his close pals
who he used as conduit.
In
the petition, SAIC said from 2011 to 2014, the Orji family especially Chindum,
(said to be richer than any state in the country despite the fact he was doing
nothing before his father became governor), created different avenues to
siphon public funds into their private accounts with impunity.
According
to the petitioners, the former governor’s alleged major source of loot were
through loans from banks/refunds, funds siphoned through banks without purpose,
illegal expenditures not backed by law and fraudulent practices in Abia State
Pensions Board. Others were allegedly through excess crude oil, using ASOPADEC
as conduit, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), federal allocations including
SURE-P, internal debt, ecological funds and CBN, SME funds.
Giving
a breakdown of the alleged looting by Orji, SAIC said of the N474 billion,
N10.5 billion was a loan obtained in 2012 by the state government with the
Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in collaboration with the
17 local governments.
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