The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday quizzed a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi, for some alleged “irregularities” in the agency’s operations under his watch.
It was gathered that Akpobolokemi had honoured an invitation by the EFCC on Thursday, arriving at the commission’s Lagos office in Ikoyi at about 10am.
Sources at the EFCC revealed that as soon as the former DG arrived, he was taken in for questioning by a team of investigators.
The sources added that Akpobolokemi was not “allowed a breathing space until about 7pm” when he was granted bail on self-recognition and ordered to report back to the EFCC office on Friday (today).
One of the sources said, “We were waiting for him, and as soon as he arrived, at 10am that we told him to come, our officers started questioning him.
“He was not allowed a breathing space until around 7pm when we granted him bail. It was decided that he should be granted bail because he came at the time he was invited without any fuss and submitted himself for questioning.
“He was also asked to come back on Friday because we have not finished with him. Before he was invited, we made our own discreet investigation and we discovered some irregularities in NIMASA’s operation when he was the DG. Our dossier on him is complete.”
It was gathered that the commission believed that Akpobolokemi had questions to answer over some “questionable transactions” running into billions of naira which were approved by the former DG.
The source said, “There were many cases of fraudulent transactions, transfers and acquisitions that we believe that the DG must explain. They are many; details will be made available in due course.”
The spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, could not be reached, as his phones indicated that they were switched off. Text messages sent to the phones had yet to be replied to as of press time.
Akpobolokemi was sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari on July 16, 2015.
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