Governor Sullivan Chime, of Enugu state faces stronger rivalry as a former National Auditor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ray Nnaji, signed a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleging the state governor of ‘official corruption’.
The petition addressed to the EFCC chairman is dated Tuesday, May 5, 2015 is captioned ‘Official corruption, misappropriation, embezzlement, stealing, forgery and criminal conversion against Governor Sullivan Chime and Enugu PDP Chairman, Chief Ikeje Asogwa.
Ray Nnaji tagging his petition to the EFCC as being patriotic, charged on the EFCC to intervene in the ‘open day robbery of the resources of the state by the governor, his close associates and relations.’
The former auditor disclosed that if nothing happens to quell the menace in the next two weeks, he go to court to force the hand of the anti-graft agency.
The allegations levelled against the governor, petitioned to be investigated read thus:
‘Misappropriation of public funds worth over N12.8bn and forgery of public document (the supplementary appropriation law, 2012, to cover up same.’
‘It must be remembered that the same alleged forgery of the 2012 supplementary budget was cited by some members of the Enugu State House of Assembly when they moved to impeach the governor for gross misconduct on Monday.
Nnaji stated in the petition, ‘Without budgetary provisions and appropriation law backing the said expenditure, Governor Sullivan Chime proceeded to spend public funds belonging to Enugu State to the tune of about N12.8bn in 2012 and misappropriated and diverted the sum into his private use without the required approval by the Enugu State House of Assembly.
‘And in order to cover up this criminal and unconstitutional act, Governor Sullivan Chime and his cohort – Chief Ikeje Asogwa and others subsequently proceeded to forge a document titled ‘The Enugu State of Nigeria Supplementary Appropriation Law, 2012.
‘It is an incontrovertible fact that there is no record of debate of this law nor is there any record of passage of the bill preceding the law before it was passed into law for use by the governor.’
Nnaji also asked the EFCC to look into the alleged inflation of the cost of some projects and stealing of public funds through the Enugu State Project Development and Implementation Unit, otherwise known as PD1.
Nnaji further pleaded that the anti-graft agency look into allegations of “fraudulent sale, allocation and acquisition of public property” by Chime and “corrupt enrichment by him”.
He gave a list of property including a mansion, currently occupied by his senior sister in Zoo Estate, Enugu, and a building, where the governor’s male children, in whose names the property was acquired, are living, which he claims the governor acquired “fraudulently” or had a stake in.
The former PDP national auditor further asked the EFCC to investigate allegations that Chime had an interest, through a proxy, in a South African company that owns shopping chains, Games and Shoprite, to which a public property, Polo Park, was allocated.
