The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brought former Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Maduabuchi Obiano, before Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday. Obiano faced a nine-count charge involving allegations of money laundering, diversion of funds, stealing, and corruption amounting to N4 billion.
One of the charges, as outlined in count one, accused Obiano of making a cash transaction through a non-financial institution in February 2018. The charge alleged that he instructed his then Chief Protocol Officer/Deputy Chief of Staff, Uzuegbuna Okagbue, to transfer N223,371,000 from the Anambra State Government Security Vote Account to Connought International Services Limited. The funds were converted to $600,000, collected in cash, and handed over to Obiano. This action was cited as a violation of Section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, and punishable under Section 16 (2) (b) of the same Act.
Another charge, count four, accused Obiano of indirectly transferring over N1.2 billion from the Anambra State Government Security Vote Account to Moment of Peace Ventures, an entity unrelated to the state government’s security affairs. The funds were allegedly misappropriated for purposes unrelated to security affairs, constituting an offense under Section 15 (2) (b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, and punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act.
Obiano pleaded not guilty to all charges. In response, prosecution counsel, Slyvanus Tahir, SAN, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a Correctional Centre pending the trial. The defendant’s counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, presented a bail application.
Upon consideration, Justice Ekwo directed the prosecution to provide details of the administrative bail granted by the EFCC, intending to adopt the terms of the bail. The court ordered the custody of Obiano’s passport and travel documents, with the Nigeria Immigration Service informed. Additionally, Justice Ekwo restrained the defendant from traveling outside the court’s jurisdiction without permission and scheduled the trial for March 4-7, 2024.
