Nigeria’s anti-corruption body, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Monday, denied claims it raided the apartment of former vice president Atiku Abubakar’s sons.
Head of the Atiku Media Office, Paul Ibe, alleged that EFCC officials raided the apartments of Aliyu and Mustapha Atiku-Abubakar, two sons of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in Maitama, Abuja on Saturday.
However, EFCC said such claims were untrue, saying it only arrested Ogbonna Orji, son of senator Theodore Orji.
The PDP at the weekend accused the EFCC of freezing the bank accounts of its vice presidential candidate Peter Obi. No evidence has been provided for these claims.
The anti-graft agency said the arrest of Orji’s son was “over money laundering, has absolutely nothing to do with the son of ex-VP Atiku Abubakar.”
The former Abia governor has been under investigations by the EFCC, for money laundering activities, which was discovered to have been carried out through his sons.
The EFCC had been on the trail of cars allegedly bought by the sons, and last Friday the cars were traced to a nightclub in Abuja, where EFCC operatives arrested Ogbonna and his friend, Kelvin Ilonah.
“They were arrested at about 5 am on Saturday, and they led operatives to their three-flat apartment, where documents retrieved showed that it was rented at a rate of N13million per annum,” EFCC said in a statement.
“They have so far given useful information to the EFCC, which is aiding in investigations. It should be made clear that the EFCC never “went after” Atiku’s sons, neither was Atiku’s son arrested by the EFCC,” EFCC said.
