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2 Nigerian ex-governors held
12/07/2007 14:40 - (SA)
Lagos - Nigeria's anti-corruption agency has arrested two former governors who had refused to present themselves for questioning, say reports.
Officials of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) were quoted as saying the ex-governors - Orji Uzor Kalu of southern Abia state and Saminu Turaki from the northeastern state of Jigawa - were taken in to answer corruption charges.
EFCC spokesperson Osita Nwajah said: "Orji Kalu and Saminu Turaki are presently answering questions of conspiracy to steal, abuse of office, diversion of public funds and money laundering, among others."
Kalu was the ruling Peoples Democratic Party's two-term governor of Abia state, but quit the party last year to form the Progressive People's Alliance, under whose banner he ran as a candidate in April presidential elections.
Turaki ruled Jigawa state for two terms as opposition All Nigeria Peoples Party governor, but defected to the ruling PDP just before April general election, in which he was elected as a federal senator.
Nwajah said the pair was arrested on Wednesday after they persistently refused invitations by the EFCC to present themselves.
The EFCC had been questioning about 15 former governors, including Joshua Dariye, the former governor of north-central Plateau state, who in 2004 jumped bail in London, where he was being prosecuted for money laundering charges.
The anti-graft agency couldn't prosecute some of the ex-governors it had indicted through past investigations because they enjoyed constitutional immunity while in office.
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