Tobias Sylvester
Suspended Chairman of the Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP), Mr. Okoi Ofem Obono-Obla, has been declared wanted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Investigation Commission(ICPC).
In a statement made available to the public, ICPC declared Obono-Obla wanted after he repeatedly failed to appear before the anti-graft agency to answer questions bordering on allegations of fraud and corruption.
“Consequently, ICPC had extended several invitations to him, which he had failed to honour without giving any reason.
“Attempts to track and make him appear before the Commission also failed leading ICPC to contact other law enforcement agencies for assistance concerning his whereabouts.
“One of such contact has yielded results as records from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) show that Mr. Obono-Obla had travelled out of the country.”
The ICPC said records from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) showed Obono-Obla travelled out of the country to an unnamed place on Saturday, August 17, 2019, via Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and has not returned since then.
KanyiDaily recalls that Obono-Obla was accused of abusing his office and collection of gratification from suspects being investigated by his panel.
He was also accused of flouting the guidelines put in place for the panel by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation.
According to the anti-graft agency, the investigations conducted thus far showed that Obono-Obla violated the provision of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and extant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
