N65m Transferred Out Of N1.3 Billion Fee For Akwa Ibom-based Lawyers, Says Ex-commissioner
A former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Akwa Ibom State, Uwemedimo Nwoko (SAN), on Tuesday, claimed that his travails in the hands of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was not unconnected with his role in stopping the anti-graft agency from probing the state government.
Nwoko stated this at the AKBC radio programme, tagged, ‘Akwa Ibom Calling’ monitored by our correspondent in Uyo, the state capital.
The former AG was recently quizzed by the anti-graft agency for almost five days over his role in the various financial transactions of former governor Godswill Akpabio, and Governor Udom Emmanuel.
He said, “When I came into office, the EFCC was harassing former governor Godswill Akpabio and trying to probe into the activities of the state government in the past.
“So, as a constitutional lawyer, I demanded to know the basis the EFCC as a federal agency was drawing its powers from to come and query the way the state government was spending money in a federal republic like Nigeria. And I wasn’t satisfied with the answer they gave me, so I went to court.
“I filed a suit. We filed the very first suit of that nature in the whole country. I filed that suit in February 2017 and we got an injunction stopping the EFCC from interfering with the transactions of the Akwa Ibom State Government.”
He explained that the N65m transferred into his account by a former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Chairman, Mr Paul Usoro (SAN), which the EFCC said was a kickback, was meant to pay some lawyers in the state.
“He mandated me as attorney general to coordinate the home-based lawyers. So, the N65m was for the lawyers I coordinated. Good enough, it was not something that was hidden,” he added.
