Nigerian anti-graft police on Sunday arrested the outgoing speaker of the house of representatives Dimeji Bankole over alleged financial impropriety, just two days after his tenure ended.
“The former speaker will remain in custody to enable him to have sufficient time to answer questions on the numerous fraud allegations against him,” the spokesman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said in a statement.
Bankole was picked up from his home Sunday ahead of his promised voluntary surrender to answer questions, which had been planned for Monday.
EFCC spokesman Femi Babafemi said the immediate arrest was ordered after intelligence reports showed that “the former speaker was planning to leave Abuja for Lagos on Sunday evening and thereafter flee the country through an illegal route”.
The speaker had resisted arrest on Friday after ignoring two earlier summonses for questioning, the anti-corruption agency said.
The agency said it is investigating Bankole for various allegations of corruption, the latest being suspected mismanagement of a 10 billion naira (64.5 million dollars; 44 million euros) bank loan parliament obtained before the April elections.
“There has been a pending allegation over a three-billion-naira cars purchase, there has been another pending over alleged misappropriation of nine billion naira budgetary allocation and there is the latest allegation of misappropriation of 25 billion naira which is made up of 15 billion budgetary allocation and 10 billion naira which is a loan,” Babafemi told AFP.
Nigeria’s last parliament tenure ended on Thursday and a new one is to be inaugurated on Monday.
Jun62011