Ibrahim Shema, the immediate ex-governor of Katsina state, who was declared wanted this week by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has turned himself in.
Shema, a member of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, arrived at the EFCC head office in Abuja at about 9.30 am on Friday, September 16, 2016.
The ex-governor was declared wanted on Wednesday, allegedly, for diverting N18 billion of Katsina State’s money into his private accounts.
A spokesperson to the governor, Mr. Oluwabusola Olawale, said Shema turned himself in because “he is a law abiding citizen who has absolutely nothing to fear.” He also accused the EFCC of not being fair to his principal.
According to a statement issued signed by Wilson Uwujaren, the spokesperson for the EFCC, former Governor Shema is wanted in connection with a case of criminal conspiracy, inflation of contract, abuse of office, diversion of funds and embezzlement running into billions of naira.
Uwajaren says that the former Katsina governor has consistently ignored the commission’s invitations since December 2015.
“All efforts to locate him at his known address (sic) in Katsina and Abuja were futile,” the statement said.
Shema had debunked the EFCC’s claims and said that the commission was being malicious and misleading in declaring him wanted, an action which “seriously embarrassed and disturbed” him.
It is unclear if Shema, the immediate past governor of Katsina State, a position he held from 2007 to 2015, would be arrested by the EFCC.
