Former Deputy Governor of Imo State, Gerald Irona, has dismissed report of his alleged arrest by the anti graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
According to Irona, the report was “false in its entirety and has no iota of truth in it,” saying he was relaxing in his residence.
This was confirmed by Irona’s Adviser on Communications, Walter Duru, in a statement obtained by SaharaReporters on Friday.
Earlier on Friday, the media was flooded with the reports of Irona’s arrest by EFCC officials in connection with corruption allegations at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja on Thursday.
The statement reads, “Our attention has been drawn to a malicious report on some online media platforms alleging that immediate past Deputy Governor of Imo State, Engr. Gerald Irona was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission-EFCC.
“The report claimed that the former Deputy Governor was “intercepted at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and taken to the EFCC headquarters for interrogation.”
“The writer further alleged that the former Deputy Governor was involved in the collection of N400m monthly from the account of the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission-ISOPADEC, during the administration of Chief Emeka Ihedioha; adding that the former Deputy Governor was also under investigation for allegedly mismanaging N5b counterpart funds for the Rural Access Mobility Project (RAMP). The report added that the former Deputy Governor did not return his passport to the EFCC after using it last year.
“Ordinarily, one would not have bothered responding to the mindless falsehood, but to put the records straight, we respond thus:
“The report is false in its entirety and has no iota of truth in it. Former Deputy Governor of Imo State, Hon. (Engr) Gerald Irona has no case with the EFCC.
“The fact that the writer neither contacted the EFCC Spokesman nor the Spokesman of the former Deputy Governor for confirmation clearly shows the intention of the sponsors of the false report.”
In the statement, Irona declared that such reports were fabricated to tarnish the image of the Imo politician, adding that the public should reject it.
He also disclosed there was ongoing legal consultation with his legal representatives on the falsehood of the news to guide what his next action would be.
“For the avoidance of doubt, immediate past Deputy Governor of Imo State, Hon. (Engr.) Gerald Irona was neither invited nor arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission-EFCC or any other Law Enforcement Agency in Nigeria.
“The former Deputy Governor, Engr. Irona is not under any form of investigation whatsoever. He is relaxing in his residence and is not arrested, invited or wanted by any law enforcement agency or any authority whatsoever, within and/or outside Nigeria,” the statement added.
Ijeoma Njoku reporting Obinwannem News / August 21, 2021
