The Economic and Financial Crimes Com-mission (EFCC) may later this week arrest four more ex-governors among those who vacated office last May 29. The ex-governors are to subsequently face trial on allegations of corrupt practices.
The commission�s resolve to move against the former governors before the New Year is sequel to a review of the case files last week by the EFCC top echelon alongside the officers handling the investigation.
THISDAY gathered that the report of the review of the EFCC on-going investigations indicated that there was sufficient evidence to initiate �solid cases� against the men.
Among the four ex-governors who may soon be hauled into detention cells of the anti-graft commission, three are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while one of them was elected on the platform of one of the opposition parties.
Three of the former governors are from the Southern part of the country while one of them is from the North-west region.
Sources say the EFCC has agreed on the modality for moving against the ex-governors without allowing them to create any scene which may be exploited for political purposes.
�Some of these former governors will not spend the new year in their respective homes. This is the time to just put their cases before the courts and let the court determine whether they are culpable or not on the charges of corruption that we will level against them�, source within EFCC said.
It is however being widely speculated that one of the governors slated down for arrest in the planned EFCC offensive is not in the country.
The ex-governor from one of the Southern states is believed to have gone out of circulation shortly after he reluctantly handed over power to a successor who he did not favour for the post.
Chairman of the EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, had told the National Assembly early this year that his commission had completed investigations into the activities of some serving state governors and found out that 31 of the 36 state chief executives had cases of corruption and money laundering to answer. He however did not name the affected governors.
The agency, Ribadu told the lawmakers, was handicapped as it could not proceed with the arrest of the politicians because they enjoyed immunity from either arrest or prosecution while serving as governor.
Former governors Orji-Uzor Kalu, Abia State; Alhaji Saminu Turaki, Jigawa State; Reverend Jolly Nyame, Taraba State; Chimaraoke Nnamani, Enugu State: now a senator, James Ibori, Delta State, Joshua Dariye, Plateau State and Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State are currently facing prosecution in various courts across the country.
The duo of Ibori and Fayose were last week, denied bail and are to remain in detention till after the new year when the courts will again, hear the prayers for bail.
EFCC also got judgment in its favour after successfully prosecuting the former Governor of Bayelsa State Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha for corruption and money laundering. Alamieyeseigha was jailed for two years for the charges brought against him.
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