Ihedioha’s aide: FBI suspect was appointed when he had no fraud case

Izuchukwu Akwarandu, media aide to Emeka Ihedioha, governor of Imo state, says the appointment of Chika Odionyenma as a member of the committee for the governor’s inauguration was made when he had no fraud case.

Odionyenma is one of the persons on FBI 77-man list of suspected Nigerian fraudsters, which was released on Thursday.

The persons listed by the security agency are under investigation in connection with one of the largest scams in US history.

Following reactions on the matter, reports of Ihedioha’s alliance with Odionyenma surfaced.

TheCable reported how the suspect was suspected into the committee which planned the governor’s inauguration.

Reacting to the report, Akwarandu said the governor should not be involved in the fraud case, as the appointment of Odionyenma was based on common Imo origin.

“He (Odionyemma) is an Imo son and it was in that capacity that the governor attended the programmes he organised,” he said.

“Moreover, those programmes were meant to empower the people and you know that the governor is a man of the people.”

He said when the governor appointed the suspect and attended his programmes, he was yet to have any fraudulent case.

The media aide discredited allegations that the suspect sponsored the Ihedioha’s election, saying proponents of such claim “are just being mischievous.”

“It is important to note that, as of the time the governor appointed him into the inauguration committee, there was no fraud case hanging around his (Odionyemma) neck anywhere in the world,” he said.

“The time the governor attended the programmes he organised, there was no fraud case hanging around his neck anywhere in the world too. He is an Imo son and it was in that capacity that the governor attended his programmes. Nothing else.

“Those who say that he sponsored the governor’s election are just being mischievous. Governorship election is a big project. It is not something you say somebody sponsored. Nobody sponsored the governor’s election.

“The fraud case is personal. It has nothing to do with the governor. The governor is a man of integrity who does not condone evil.

“Those who are linking the governor to the fraud case because he attended some of the programmes Odionyemma organised or he appointed him into the inauguration committee are just being mischievous and playing petty politics.”