Nigeria: Rivers State's Governor Rotimi Amaechi faces impeachment threat after Adamawa State debacle

The 14 July impeachment and removal from office of Adamawa State’s governor Murtala Nyako, who is a prominent member of the opposition All Progressives’ Congress (APC), has descended into a debacle as credible reports suggest that he has fled to Europe via Ghana.

Although one of his assistants insists he is not running from the law - in this case the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and a possible case for treason in relation to his statements on Boko Haram, - the EFCC's media and publicity head, Wilson Uwujaren, stated that in order to locate the elusive Nyako the commission is planning to declare him wanted.

These developments have fuelled suspicions that the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) may next target Rivers State’s governor Rotimi Amaechi. The governor, who last year defected to the APC from the PDP, was detained while en route to campaign for Kayode Fayemi in the Ekiti State gubernatorial election in June.

The Rivers State APC chapter has released a statement lauding Amaechi’s qualifications while suggesting that he is among four additional APC governors “pencilled down by the Presidency” for impeachment, along with those from Borno, Edo and Nasarawa States. APC activists proclaim that they will not allow such “evil machinations” to succeed.

Amaechi issued a statement through his chief of staff, Chief Tony Okocha, that any impeachment plot against him would fail because all 25 former PDP Rivers State assembly members defected to the APC and just six remain loyal to the PDP.

In Adamawa State, the State House of Assembly, which stayed loyal to the PDP, was able to obtain the two-thirds majority in favour of for Nyako’s impeachment. A similar challenge against impeachment was issued in Edo State by Governor Adams Oshiomole who is another APC supporter.

For more detailed expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2014 Menas Associates

Former Oceanic Bank CEO convicted of fraud

The former Oceanic Bank CEO, Cecelia Ibru, has been convicted of fraud and has been sentenced to six months in prison for forfeiting N190 billion (US$1.2 billion) in cash and assets.

Ibru was one of the most prominent senior bank executives who were removed from their posts and were arrested in connection with the 2009 near-collapse of nine Nigerian banks which had to be rescued by the Nigeria Central Bank.

She pleaded guilty to three of 25 counts of fraud and mismanagement and the sentence was the result of a settlement agreement, Judge Dan Abutu, told the court in Lagos on Friday. Her three sentences were for six months each but will now run concurrently so she will only spend only six months in jail.

However she is to be “stripped of a long list of 199 assets and funds worth over N190 billion”, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which brought the case, said in a statement on Friday. The amount recovered is believed to be the highest in Nigerian criminal history. The central bank said that the assets forfeited included 94 properties in Nigeria, the US and Dubai, as well as shares in 100 companies of which 80 are listed in Nigeria and 20 are private.

Ibru belongs to an elite family, which controls massive business interests across Nigeria and she was famous on Nigeria's party circuit for her opulent life style and her taste for corporate jets. Until her arrest, she been considered beyond the reach of the fraud police so the verdict will no doubt shock Nigeria's financial world.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates