The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested Dr Frank Ayade, a younger
brother of the Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade.
The
arrest, was sequel to a petition filed by one Paul Ifere and other indigenes of
the state.
The
operatives were said to have arrested the younger Ayade after conducting a
search on his Calabar residence at about 3pm on Tuesday.
The
petition, titled, ‘The Fraud Called Calabar Garment Factory,’’ which was sent
to the EFCC on May 12, 2016, accused the state government of spending N2.7bn on
the factory through Frank Ayade, who had no defined public role in the
administration of Governor Ayade.
An
eyewitness living close to Ayade’s house in Calabar, Mr. Ekwe Samson, said,
“The operatives were many in number. While some led Dr Frank into the house to
conduct a search, others waited outside.
“The
search lasted for about one hour before they drove off with Dr Frank again. We
got information that the anti-graft agency would be visiting before they came.”
An
EFCC official from the South-West, who is among the operatives investigating
the matter in Port Harcourt, said, “The commission is investigating several
petitions that have been written about shady transactions in relation to the
Cross River Garment Factory and other matters in the state.”
The
petition read in part, “Further to my avowed commitments to key into the
President Muhammadu Buhari’s change mantra to liberate our country from the
epidemic corruption virus, I wish to bring to your notice, knowledge and,
indeed, that of the public, the monumental fraud encapsulated in the
construction of the Cross River Garment Factory in Calabar by Governor Ben
Ayade of Cross River State.
“It
will interest you to note that from the facts available to me, Governor Ben
Ayade’s government so far has spent, through his younger brother, Mr. Frank
Ayade, who holds no defined public office, more than N2.7bn on the garment
factory.”
Although
Governor Ayade did not respond directly to the interrogation of his younger
brother by the EFCC, at a press parley in Calabar on Wednesday, he noted that
the Calabar Garment Factory was owned by the state government.
While
dismissing the insinuations that the factory was privately owned, Ayade stated
that there were verifiable documents to prove that there was no fraud involved.
Tags
Politics