The Former House of Representatives Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Etteh has been arrested by operatives working for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). According to reports, Mrs. Etteh was nabbed on Tuesday in Abuja by members of the Special Duty Unit and is now facing alleged charges of aiding and abetting a fraudulent contract worth N130 million naira. The contract was granted by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) after they were gifted the chance to head a solar-powered electrification project in Akwa-Ibom State.
It was further revealed that the contract itself was awarded to a Phin Jin Project limited in 2011 to the tune of N240 million, a company that doesn’t appear in any of the CAC directories leaving its authenticity in doubt. Weeks later, the aforementioned sum of N130 million was deposited into Mrs. Etteh’s account and was in no way affiliated with the company.
Mrs. Etteh’s claims that the contractors were simply repaying a debt to her have been rebutted by investigators, who found the huge sum paid to her very suspicious. Also casting doubts on her story is the fact that the contract was even overpaid – Phin Jin Project received 287 million naira instead of the agreed-upon 240—and the contract was never fulfilled to date.
Investigations are still ongoing and EFCC officials have sworn not to rest until they have gotten to the bottom of the case.
