EFCC GOES AFTER UDUAGHAN AND HIS BILLIONAIRE MAIN MAN, DERE OTUBU
-Over Unaccounted N700billion Delta State Money

Former Delta state governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and his billionaire man Friday, Dere Otubu are reportedly under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) radar over several allegations of graft, sources at the anti-graft agency have confirmed.

According to The WILL online investigators are also looking at several loans, bonds and credits obtained by the Uduaghan administration and how they were spent, particularly a controversial N40 billion loan that was obtained towards the end of the administration. Some members of the House of Assembly when he was the governor and who were kept in the dark about the loan had moved to impeach the governor when it became public knowledge, but the then House Speaker, Peter Onwusanya, allegedly colluded with principal officers to approve the loan and in return were allegedly rewarded in cash for their effort.

And because of this the EFCC was directed by President Muhammadu Buhari to commence investigations into the Uduaghan administration following dozens of petitions and complaints to the President by some Deltans. Already a top official of the Delta State House as well as other officials of the state government have been repeatedly questioned in Abuja by the EFCC in the last two weeks as part of the investigations as the agency continues to build its case against the former governor.

“The President directed the Chairman of the EFCC to look into Delta finances under outgone Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. The Petitions received from prominent Deltans against him and one Dere Otubu were many,” according to a Presidency source. Some of the main beneficiaries of the controversial N40 billion loan include businessman and contractor Uche Okpunor and Mr. Otubu. Trouble started when the transition committee commissioned by Uduaghan successor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, uncovered a staggering debt profile of almost N700 billion when they looked through the state’s finances.

The EFCC sources corroborated what is common knowledge amongst top Delta State Government personnel that Mr. Otubu helped the governor manage the finances of the state and in the process shaved the state of billions in fees and commissions including phoney contracts that were paid in full despite poor execution. The contracts were mostly executed through companies controlled by proxies

Dere Otubu sits atop money spinning companies like Staco Insurance, SIC Property & Investment Company Limited, Staco Prime Capital Limited and Senforce Insurance Brokers. He is said to have learnt a lot from his father, Baba Aladura, who never ceased to teach him a thing or two in rudimentary business.