The immediate past Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel clarified yesterday that he was not arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) but merely “honoured” an invitation by the body.
He was reportedly arrested by the EFCC on Tuesday over an alleged N700 billion fraud. Emmanuel, who served as governor between 2015 and 2023, returned home yesterday after he was reportedly grilled by the anticorruption body in Abuja.
However, in a statement, his media aide Stephen Abia said the ex-governor’s visit to the EFCC’s head office “was purely a routine affair”. He added: “Udom Emmanuel honoured the invitation by the EFCC.
This he did, seamlessly in his undaunted spirit of patriotism and sense of responsibility. “It is worth emphasizing here that this invitation has been extended to thousands of Nigerians, both the rich and the not-so-rich, political and corporate titans.
“An invitation, therefore, is not a conviction. But a section of the media, egged on by Mr. Emmanuel’s traducers and political adversaries, has made the invitation seem like he was convicted.
“Dispassionate minds need to note the elementary distinctions between an invitation and honouring same, and an arrest which demands some legal mechanics.”
