Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has obtained a warrant to arrest the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Leo Ogor.
It was learnt that the EFCC is set to declare Ogor wanted for refusing to honour a series of invitations for over a year.
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A source at the EFCC said, “We have been inviting the lawmaker to explain his role in the scam since last year but he has refused to come forward. Rather, he sent word to us saying he would not be able to come until December.
“We have therefore obtained a warrant for his arrest and we will declare him wanted soon.”
But, Ogor replied that he was ready to visit the EFCC as soon as the anti-graft agency invited him.
He disclosed that he was away from the country having spent over six months abroad on health grounds.
However, Ogor said he had not received any invitation from the agency.
“I have not seen their invitation. But, if they want to see me, let them communicate me properly and I will come and see them,” he added.
Ogor is under investigation for abuse of office; awarding constituency projects to his companies; contract splitting; being sole signatory to six accounts, which were not declared in his Asset Declaration Form; and curious payment of over N318m into two of the accounts by the Niger Delta Development Commission for undisclosed projects.
The EFCC had last year blocked over N116m belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party chieftain.
The cash is the outstanding sum in the accounts of five of the six companies owned by Ogor with which he secured contracts from some agencies as constituency projects.
Apart from the freeze order, the EFCC is looking into a “curious” payment of over N318m to two of the companies by the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The anti-graft agency is probing Ogor based on a petition against the House leadership by the suspended Appropriation Committee Chairman, Abdulmumin Jibrin, on the alleged padding of the 2016 Budget and the insertion of bogus constituency projects.
As part of the first stage of the investigations, EFCC detectives discovered that Ogor has 30 accounts, including six belonging to his companies, two dormant savings accounts and the rest personal.
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The said accounts belong to six companies traceable to Ogor because he is the sole signatory to the accounts.
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