The People’s
Democratic Party, PDP, has condemned the arrest and detention of
Precious Chikwendu, wife of Femi Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister
and chieftain of the party, by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC.
Ms. Chikwendu was on Monday, October 17, 2016 arrested with her 8-month-old son, Aragon, by agents of the EFCC at Access Bank in Ado Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti.
In an e-mailed statement to The Trent
on Tuesday, signed by Dayo Adeyeye, the PDP said that this action
against Fani-Kayode’s family “represents a new low” in the Muhammadu
Buhari-led government’s resolve to harass and persecute real and
perceived enemies of the regime “under the guise of an anti-corruption
crusade”.
The party said it was only the timely intervention of Ekiti governor, Ayodele Fayose, that brought the detention to an end.
“It is reprehensible for the government
to attack members of the families of its perceived enemies, especially
wives and children, for any reason whatsoever,” the statement said.
“In addition to freezing Chief
Fani-Kayode’s accounts, the federal government has ordered the freezing
of accounts of his wife, Precious Chikwendu, several of which were
opened and operated long before their marriage. These accounts have been
frozen for no reason other than her marriage to Chief Fani-Kayode.
“The Buhari administration cannot, and
must not be allowed to continue the violation of the constitutional
rights and freedom of the Nigerian people. This sort of tyranny must not
be allowed to continue unchecked,” Adeyeye said.
The party said that it has advised the Fani-Kayodes to seek redress in court.
In response to the outrage over the
action by the anti-graft commission, the EFCC issued a statement
claiming that the account was flagged and frozen by the agency because
it has N2.4 million which the commission claimed was part of a money
laundering case against the Ms. Chikwendu’s husband.
The EFCC denied arresting Ms. Chikwendu
and also alleged that her special bank identification number was used on
17 accounts in GTBank.
In a swift reaction, Chikwendu has
refuted the claims of the EFCC with evidence. She said that the account
had N295,000 and never had a balance of more than N500,000 at any time.
Also, she refuted the claim by the EFCC
that she was not arrested by the agency. She said three agents of the
commission were at the bank with the intention of whisking her away to
Abuja.
“Neither is it true that the EFCC were
not at the bank in Ado Ekiti to arrest her because three of their
operatives were actually there manning the bank door with their identity
cards pinned to their jackets. They were backed by five fully armed
policemen in uniform,” the e-mailed statement said.
“They made it clear to Precious
Chikwendu that they had been ordered to bring her to Abuja by road that
same evening and that if she could not leave her son in the bank with
the manager he would have to come for the ride too.
“Had it not been for the intervention of
Governor Fayose that is exactly what would have happened and only God
knows what they would have been subjected to on the way,” she revealed.
“The assertion by one Wilson Uwajeren
who is supposed to be the spokesman of the EFCC that Precious
Chikwendu’s Access Bank account was used to launder Jonathan campaign
funds or funds from the NSA’s office and that approximately 2.4 million
naira balance was found in the said account at the time of her arrest is
a lie from the pit of hell,” an e-mailed statement by her
assistant, Chinenye Okechukwu, revealed.
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