A claim that the incumbent governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has resurfaced online.
The claim is being recirculated alongside an EFCC flier suggesting that the governor and other 58 persons are being wanted by the anti-graft agency.
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Fubara was a former Accountant-General of Rivers State during the Nyesom Wike-led administration in the state.
An X user, @Possible1001, posted the flier alongside the claim. It read:
“BREAKING:
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has declared the Rivers State Accountant-General, Fubara Siminayi, and 58 others wanted for N435 billion fraud.”
The post has generated over 480,000 views with more than 200 reposts, over 190 bookmarks and more than 1,000 likes as of May 15, 2024.
CLAIM
EFCC recently declared Rivers governor, Siminalayi Fubara, wanted.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
Fubara succeeded Nyesom Wike, who is the current minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as governor in May 2023. He was the accountant-general under Wike.
In May 2022, the EFCC declared Fubara and 58 others wanted over an alleged N435 billion fraud.
Fubara, and four other Rivers State government officials, among others, were wanted for suspected N117 billion fraud, alleged criminal conspiracy, money laundering, misappropriation of public funds, and abuse of office.
A month later, Fubara allegedly escaped an attempt by the commission’s officials to arrest him after he got elected.
The arrest attempt was reported to have taken place at the Port Harcourt International Airport as Fubara was returning from Abuja. He had travelled to the FCT to receive his certificate of return after emerging as the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Rivers state.
As the operatives moved towards the plane to arrest him, youths believed to be Fubara’s supporters, allegedly resisted the attempt and attacked them.
The face-off left some of the operatives injured, Fubara managed to escape arrest; this was condemned by the EFCC in a statement.
“Operatives of the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, were on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, prevented from arresting one Sim Fubara, a suspect under the watch-list of the Commission, by thugs who breached the security of the Port Harcourt Airport, Omagwa, Rivers State,” the statement read.
“The armed thugs assaulted operatives of the commission who demonstrated commendable restraint under extreme provocation.
“The commission condemns the blatant attempt to obstruct justice, warning that its civility should not be taken for granted.”
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Fubara was later defended by the Wike-led Rivers State Government at the time. In a statement by the state government, Wike threatened to charge the EFCC for contempt, claiming that before the incident, the Rivers State Government had gotten a subsisting court judgement against the EFCC that it could not investigate the state finances or its officers.
He also claimed that there was another judgement against EFCC by the PDP governorship candidate to enforce his fundamental human rights, which he said had not been set aside.
Fubara was not tried by the EFCC over the allegation up till he was sworn in as the governor. The governor is currently being protected by Section 308 of the Nigeria Constitution which grants immunity to sitting governors.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the EFCC recently declared Fubara wanted is MISLEADING; findings show that the announcement was made in 2022. However, the anti-graft agency was unable to investigate and tried him until he became the governor of Rivers state.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
