The Special Presidential Investigation Panel for Recovery of Public Property has arrested the embattled governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Imo State, Hope Uzodinma.
The chairman of the panel, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, in a terse statement on Sunday, said Mr Uzodinma was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
DAILY NIGERIAN report that Mr Uzodinma, who is a serving Senator, had been enmeshed in a power tussle with Governor Rochas Okorocha over who becomes the next governor of Imo come 2019.
Mr Okorocha had anointed his In-law Uche Nwoso for the top job while the national leadership of the APC gave the ticket to Mr Uzodinma.
However, following recent permutations in the party, neither of the two candidates’ names had appeared in the list of candidates released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
It, therefore, appears that one of the two elephants is winning the power game.
But, according to the panel chairman, Mr Uzodinma was arrested in connection with a failure by his company to execute a contract of $12m for the dredging of Calabar channel as awarded by the Nigerian Ports Authority.
Mr Obono-Obla said Mr Uzodinma had been evading arrest for about a year but was arrested at about 8.20pm at the Abuja airport.
“This evening, at about 8.20pm, operatives of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel For Recovery of Public Property at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport arrested the APC governorship candidate in Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, after disembarking from an Air Peace P47324 flight from Lagos.
“The panel is investigating economic sabotage against Senator Uzodinma arising out of the failure of his company to execute a contract of $12m for the dredging of Calabar channel awarded by the NPA,” the statement read in part.
