$12m contract: Uzodinma granted bail, to appear before presidential panel

Hope Uzodinma, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo state, who was arrested in Abuja on Sunday, has been released.

The special presidential investigation panel for recovery of public property (SPIP) said he was granted bail on health grounds but would return to the panel for questioning.

The lawmaker representing Imo west senatorial district was arrested due to the alleged failure of his company to execute a $12m contract awarded by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for the dredging of Calabar channel.

Okoi Obono-Obla, chairman of the panel, told TheCable on Monday that Uzodinma had evaded arrests despite efforts by the panel to summon him.

“We have been looking for him for the past 13 months over a case of failure to execute a contract of $12m dollars awarded for the dredging of the Calabar channels awarded by the Nigeria Ports Authority,” Obono-Obla had said.

“We have written countless letters to the clerk of the national assembly in accordance with their procedure. He has shunned all our invitations and he has been very evasive.

“We pasted our assets declaration form because the first procedure when we are investigating you is to give you our assets declaration form and within 30 days, you are required to fill and return them. If you fail to return them, then we can charge you to court. We have charged him to before the federal high court for failure to declare his assets. He has notice of our invitation. We pasted the asset declaration form in his residence in accordance with the law.”

Uzodinma is also said to be facing trial before a federal high court in Abuja for alleged failure to disclose his assets.