₦airaland Forum

i can toast to that. my family know the egwus and for the things that he's done they're very inhumane. he first stole the people's money, build his own private estates, wasted money taking trips to foreign countries that were unneserery and on top of that sent all of his kids to colleges overseas. he bought houses for all his kids over seas while in collge. between the usa and the uk sam egwu has 5 houses who i overheard my family members talking about. and these are not small time houses. these are huge houses that rich white people buy for theireslf. he is a bonified thief. anyone can easly locate these house if they wanted. there's nothing secretive in the big countries the only thing you have to do is look it up through information. again, he's got foreigh accounts all over the place. he's so filthy rich from the people's money that you can smell the filth of him being a multi millionair. drive up to his house. see how many cars he got lined up over there. security in every corner. he is living like a prince. him and his family. the house is huge. but he is under surveillance because so many people don't like the evil he has done and to make things worse his attitude behind it. ask everyone where are his kids now? they are all in the uk going to rich expensive universities that they would not be able to go to if sam egwu the blood sucking parasite did not still all that money as governor. for security reasons continuining to talk about sam egwu may cause my family harm. you mentioned that you were almost beaten to death in 2006 so i don't want to put myself or my family in danger. you already know how nigeria is. there is no security and we risk our lives everyday by going out in there streets. but i can tell you now that sam egwu will pay dearly for what he's done. the world is watching and everyone knows what he has done. he is not stupid either. sam egwu drives around with a goom squad. he has an army driving around with him all the time. his corporate thugs are his motocade. the man loves power. i wished eceryone here could have internet access to express the thoughts they had about the beast sam egwu because they would be brutally honest about what really goes on in nigeria.

What a disaster

Sam Egwu is a very good man, and he is more than qualified to be the next PDP chairman. I am not even Igbo, and i don't  know this man personally, but by his record as governor of Ebonyi state for 8 years he is going to be the best PDP chairman.

Only a person who has benefited or soon to benefit from the money Sam Egwu stole would come to his defense. SAM EGWU IS A THIEF! You know it, and I know it. And are you even serious? Do you really want to talk about his track record of how he raped Ebonyi State, embezzling billions allocated to the state, and how his wife, Eunice Egwu, helped him plunder the state? You must have been living in a cave to say these things. And for the record, I'm Igbo, and I'm telling you right now that SAM EGWU IS A THIEF!!! His humbleness is simply an act to fool people.

What Nemesis?? Instead make we get up and do what God has given us brains to do we want to wait for nemesis?? Has nemesis caught up with Babangida, obasanjo and the many others who have over the decades continued to steal from you and your children When will nemesis come?? When our children die off miserable and hungry Please people, nemesis is only going to come when we take action and fight for our right. Heaven helps those who help themselves. That may not be in the Bible but it has been seen as the way things will work for the people of africa

I know it seems hopeless, Kobo, and yes, helping ourselves would be a better way to start, but you must understand that evil catches up to people one way or the other.

John Otu has even commited the worst crime by openly trying to cover an eight years pregnancy thats full of disappointments and blasphemies. Posterity will never pardon him and his generations. One message to you Otu, never forget that everything is on record. I know you understood me very well.

But for Egwus, nemesis will soon overtake them. Fellows, the really did "evils"

For the Egwus, nemesis will soon overtake them indeed. The evil they've done will not be swept under the rug to be forgotten, but it will be spotlighted, and their evil will backfire on them.

read about that already but thanx.

I'll keep you posted.

What matters for me is not who emerges and who has cases against EFCC or who has'nt

For me it is how the next PDP leader emerges that matters

This is how we blackmailed everyone else in the last election and did everything for Yar'adua to emerge because we heard he was honest. But now as President we have seen the height of dishonesty and a President who is not bold enough to take a stand on anything whether right or wrong.

"What matters for me is not who emerges and who has cases against EFCC or who has'nt For me it is how the next PDP leader emerges that matters."

What are you saying? Are you not in your right state of mind? EFCC has cases pending on Sam Egwu longer than the Nile River! What do you mean it doesn't matter who has cases pending or not? So do you want a crook like Sam Egwu to continue being in power? Was the amount stolen by Sam and Eunice Egwu not enough for you? Maybe you are waiting for the greedy Sam Egwu to own Nigeria now. And if Sam Egwu becomes the next PDP leader, how in the world is he going to emerge this matter? Is he going to indict himself for the billions he stole? Embezzlement + embezzlement= more of the masses suffering, and while our young people are dying of hunger and being deprived of good quality of life, the conniving Sam Egwu flaunts public funds allocated to the state.

I could never support a thief like Sam Egwu? Anyim all the way for me!!!

man, sam egwu is a real beast! my family personally know the egwu's and believe me all of these things are 100% true. but does anyone have any new developing story on sam egwu? the government controls the media here and we can't access real information sometimes.

Elite Caution Elechi On Egwu's Hotel
FROM LEO SOBECHI, ABAKALIKI
EBONYI State Governor, Chief Martin Elechi, has been warned against buying the Grace Court Hotel and Suites from the immediate past governor, Dr. Sam Egwu, so as not to be seen as colluding in the pillaging of the state.

Addressing newsmen in Abakaliki, yesterday, the Ebonyi Elites Council, (EBEC), said plans by Egwu to dispose of the hotel, as a result of pressure for the ICPC sanction, should not be helped by the state.

The group, led by Chima Nwiboko, said it would amount to money laundering for the state government to acquire the facility, when the state-owned international hotel was abandoned by the former governor while in office.

However, the immediate past Special Adviser to Egwu on Media and Public Affairs, Dr. John Otu, said the former governor never planned to strike the transfer deal with Elechi. He said the call by the group is nothing short of political mischief-making and rumour mongering.

But Nwiboko said the former governor was making frantic efforts to sell the hotel to the state government for N4 billion, in a bid to escape the judgments of Ebonyi people and posterity.

He expressed outrage at reports that Egwu carted away four armoured vehicles purchased for the use of the state chief executive, as well as withdrawing the best drivers from the Government House pool for his personal use.

Otu, however, said members of the group were motivated by envy against Egwu's towering credentials and the fact that the former governor is highly favoured to clinch the post of National chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article10/080707

IT is all UP To NIGERIANS like YOU AND I. There are millions of us outside of the COuntry who can right now come together to force the hand of government down there in Nigeria. There are millions more right there in Nigeria who can decide today to no longer accept crap from the government. Time is not the answer. We are the answer, are we going to do anything or continue to make excuses instead of applying the solutions which happen to be right in front of us Who knows In the end, the people are to blame. I remember decades ago, all those people you have listed would have been running for their lives but today because we are not doing our jobs as citizens, they walk around free and feel they are entitled.

They say once beaten ( or is it bitten) twice shy!!! We have been beaten/bitten so many many times now, for us to continue to wait for the "LEADERS" is what I consider amazing. We are Nigeria, we are the ones to get the ball rolling. We are the ones to get Yaradua to do what we need him to do for us. Not wait for him to remember to do it for us.

And doing so would mean that we'd have to be willing to take a big risk, because corruption has deeply infultrated our country and it wont be easy to rectify.

Here is my problem with all these claims. They come off more like accusations which when you do the actual calculation make no sense at all. It almost has the man acting on his own to control all the money even with the many people under him and all.

Everyone should know that Sam Egwu didn't embezzle all that money by himself. It was a government conspiracy of course. But all of this took place under Sam Egwu, and that discredited him, because this happened under his administration and supervision. But a big chunk of the embezzled funds went to Sam Egwu. I dare anyone to tell me that Sam Egwu was worth 1% of what he's worth now before he became the governor of Ebonyi State! From owning a 5-star hotel, to his wife, Eunice Egwu, building up properties like Hope High International and Window Care- and with many other establishments that came about after Sam Egwu became in power ramsacking and plundering  the state's coffers. Success stories are good to hear, but not when you step on your own brother's neck destroying them in the process for personal gain, because it becomes detrimental for the masses, and everyone suffers!

He has not been left off-the-hook!
The same case is in another court
This one has to be withdrawn to avoid double jeopardy
as they say in law

You're absolutely right!

I still maintain that he's innocent until proven guilty, Sam Egwu is not bigger than Ibori or Kalu

Time will tell if the Greedy Sam Egwu is guilty or not. Hopefully, someone who's not motivated by money will put an end to his lavish lifestyle, flaunting with public funds allocated to the state.

He's innocent until proven guilty

I think it's more of him being innocent until greedy prosecutors are not in collusion with Sam Egwu. Sam Egwu did it! He enriched himself with public funds allocated to the states, and it's only a matter of time till the walls start closing in on him.

Because of power. That's why it's so hard to get looters like Dr. Sam Egwu convicted in the first play.

You're absolutely right, Sara. Remember early last year when Sam Egwu went to court? Remember what happened? The case was thrown out due to so call "lack of evidence." You already know that Sam Egwu bribed his way out of that one. It's all about who's in power indeed!

Here is how Governor Sam Egwu of Ebonyi State milked his state dry

http://saharareporters.com/www/report/detail/?id=372

By Ademola Adegbamigbe & Michael Mukwuzi

Dr. Sam Egwu, former governor of Ebonyi State, shares certain traits with the late Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein. Apart from his moustache that is so luxuriant that an eagle could land on it, Egwu’s other Saddam-like nature is his insatiable lust for landed property. The former Ebonyi State helmsman has other dubious characteristics. These include his alleged financial scams, use of proxies to milk the state through dubious contracts, diversion of local government funds, foreign trips by members of his family at the state’s expense and whimsical approval of remunerations to himself. Others are conversion of government vehicles to personal use, payments for unrendered services, inflation of contract sums, spurious bank loans and administrative tardiness.

All these are detailed in a petition that a group, which calls itself the Coalition for Good Governance in Ebonyi State (COGGES), wrote to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a copy of which it sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The 30-page petition, dated 16 July 2007 and entitled “A Comprehensive Report On The Systematic But Ruthless Looting of Pubic Funds and Resources of Ebonyi State by Dr. Sam Ominyi Egwu and His Wife from 1999 To May 2007: A Case Study of Corruption, Public Deceit and Embezzlement,” was signed by the coalition’s President, Ogazi Linus Ogbonnaya. Arranged in two volumes, the first details the facts of every allegation made against Egwu, while the second contains appendices of documents to prove each allegation. In all, Egwu and his wife are alleged to have appropriated close to N80 billion out of the over N150 billion accruing to the state as revenue under his eight year-watch as Chief Executive Officer. For his successor, the governor left a debt profile of N10 billion.

The first of the allegations against Egwu is false declaration of assets. In his Assets Declaration Form, dated 21 July 1999, Egwu claimed that he had three buildings located in Amoffia Ngbo, Ezzamgbo and Abakaliki, all valued at N15 million. But Egwu’s accusers are challenging him, claiming that it was a lie fabricated to cover up intended and pre-determined fraudulent acquisition of property while in office. They allege that Dr. Egwu, both as a lecturer at the then Enugu State University of Technology, Abakaliki campus (now Ebonyi State University) and later Commissioner for Education, had no personal house at Abakaliki, the state capital, or his town, Amoffia. They insist that the university accommodated him at its quarters, an address he still used even as governor, in his 7 May 2003 letter to Allstates Trust Bank, seeking a N71.5 million loan facility.

Before moving into the university’s house, Egwu and his family, as at 1996, were living in a two-bedroom flat at 25 Igweorie Street, Abakaliki. It was in one Mallam Gab’s block of six flats, a tenement he left in dramatic circumstance.

Another alleged false claim by Egwu in his asset declaration was that he owned farms valued at N2 million and an annual income of N500,000. His critics argue that it was a bogus declaration, made to accommodate an anticipated fraudulent wealth acquisition. Apart from the N500,000 so-called annual income, Egwu, it is said, does not own any farm except one he allegedly forcefully acquired from Umuebe Ezzamgbo villagers. The farm is located at Umuebe, not Amoffia. Egwu’s critics further contest his claim of N5 million annual income on his storage business, N8 million yearly income on contracts since 1981 and his four cars valued at N4 million bought between 1981 and 1999.

On the contrary, Egwu, the petitioners claim, could only boast of a weather-beaten Peugeot 305 saloon car, which he bought from Mr. George of Sakamori quarters, Abakaliki, on instalmental basis. This privilege was allegedly accorded Egwu because Mr. George’s wife taught in the same Girls College, Ugwuachara, as Egwu’s wife. “Residents of Abakaliki still recall that car which is a point of reference for struggling and hardworking people that tomorrow could be better,” the petitioners said.

Dr. Egwu’s desire for real estate could make the Abachas envious. The former governor’s properties are valued at N12.588 billion. They include a five-star hotel called Grace Court Hotel and Suites, valued at over N2 billion and situated along Nna Street, Abakaliki. Built within two years in a residential area, Egwu and his wife started acquiring adjoining properties to make the hotel premises bigger. To gain ownership of the N30 million property of Mr. Dominic Aja, the Head of Service in the state, the former governor built a similar structure for him near the hotel.

But another target, Mr. Okwudili Ojugwu, a businessman, was too tough for the Egwus to bend. He initially offered to sell his property near the Egwus’ for N30 million. However, when he realised he could squeeze the former governor for much more, Ojugwu raised the cost to N50 million. To further put the former governor on tenterhooks, the property owner raised its value to N70 million and, further still, to N100 million. And though Egwu was desperate to buy the property at any cost, Ojugwu was not willing to sell and was only upping the ante to discourage the former governor. The property which is now situated within the premises of Egwu’s hotel has become an embarrassing problem for the ex-governor.

The Egwus also own Hope High International School, Abakaliki, valued at over N1.2 billion. Constructed within one year, the school which admitted its first set of students in 2003, is situated on 40 hectares of land, which originally belonged to the state government. However, the original master plan shows that the entire Onwe road area where it is situated was meant for the construction of a market, a church, a recreation centre and other facilities. Moreover, part of the land on which the school is situated was reclaimed at a huge cost from rivers Iyiokwu and Iyiudele in Abakaliki, using the state’s share of the ecological fund.

For the Egwus, the acquisition or abandonment of property could also be subject to ego. This trait came to the fore when the former governor abandoned the construction of a mansion along Pontius Ibogu Street, off Ezza road, Abakaliki, valued at N850 million. The reason was simply that two mansions which were more beautiful than his were being put up by Sam Agom Eze, a banker and Chidi Nwankwo, the state Accountant-General.

Egwu’s other choice properties include a block of 12 flats at Eboh Street, valued at N45 million; a similar N35 million structure at 8 Francis Orji Street, and another N55 million property at 3 Douglas Ogbonna Street, all in Abakaliki. He also owns a N50 million duplex at Umuebe, Ezzamgbo, in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state.

The former Ebonyi governor has an ultra-modern farm and country home, both valued at N820 million. Covering an area of over 100 hectares, the farm is a shouting distance from the site of the Ebonyi State airport project which was, at Egwu’s order, relocated from its original site along Abakaliki-Onueke road. Not a few citizens of Ebonyi believe that Egwu relocated the airport to its new site with the intention of having it service his farm.

According to COGESS, the farm is being developed by a consortium of experts, including technocrats from the Isreali-owned Dizengoff West Africa who were paid $6m for the now abandoned Nkaliki automated hatchery. COGESS reckons that the unwritten brief for Dizengoff now is to build the Umuebe farm as part of the initial contract for the botched hatchery project. Egwu’s repeated trips to Israel lends credence to this argument.

Also listed as part of Egwu’s booty are: a duplex with surrounding bungalows worth N25 million at Otuokpeye, Amoffia Ngbo, where his parents hailed from; a duplex at Mrs Egwu’s family compound at Ezzamgbo with a network of tarred roads, all valued at N85m; a four-storey edifice at Ezzamgbo worth over N80m; petrol filling stations at Amasiri, Ebonyi State and Port Harcourt, Rivers State, worth over N150m; a seven-hectare fenced plot at Mile 50, Abakiliki, purchased from the Pecuno family at the cost of N35m and a private recreational centre and resort opposite Hope International High School, Onwe Road, Abakaliki valued at N200m.

Egwu is also in the pillory for embarking on the construction of a personal shopping complex opposite Democracy Estate, Abakaliki valued at N150m; purchase of the Starberg mechanised quarry, off Abakalilki-Enugu Expressway, valued at over N800m, and for the acquisition of the headquarters of Widow Care Foundation, Mrs Egwu’s NGO, opposite Democracy Estate, Abakaliki valued at N80m.

The petitioners disclosed that the quarry site on the hills dovetails into the recreation centre and resort on Onwe Road and Hope High International School on the flood plains of Iyiokwu river to form an unbroken 2-kilometre chain of a private estate newly acquired by the Egwus, which terminates at the Afikpo Road junction. In a zone where a plot of land sells for over N3m, COGGES puts the value of the stretch of land at N550m.

Far from being satisfied with his vast acquisitions, Egwu cornered an over 500-metre stretch of land between Ezzambgo Motor Park and the bridge on the way to Enugu,which is worth over N20m; a building belonging to R.O. Nkwocha at 68\72 Presidential Road, opposite Presidential Hotel, Enugu purchased by proxy for N700m; former Seven-Up Bottling Company, along Independence Avenue, Enugu purchased for N500m; a mansion at Victoria Island, Lagos valued at N710m; a hotel nearing completion along Independence Avenue, Enugu worth over N600m, and over 200 choice plots of land within and outside Abakiliki valued at over N300m.

Egwu also acquired a record number of moveable assets and shares to complement his real estate acquisitions. The former governor has in his fleet 17 exotic cars valued at more than N268m. The list excludes four of the seven bullet-proof cars purchased at N260m that Egwu allegedly appropriated to himself while leaving office on 29 May. The vehicles include a Range Rover B6+ armoured jeep, BMW X5 (3.0), BMW X5 (armoured) and Mercedes Benz 500 (bullet-proof).

Egwu’s foray into blue chip companies was total and sweeping. At the home front, the former governor commandeered majority shareholding interest in Eastern Bulkcem Limited by proxy investors in Nigercem at a value of N1.1billion. Determined to consolidate the Nigercem deal, Egwu committed N200m of Ebonyi State government funds to the acquisition of 10 per cent of the company’s equity, a transaction facilitated by the now distressed Allstates Trust Bank in 2004.

Egwu incorporated Hardis Nigeria Limited to manufacture interlocking tiles, polythene products and table water. The company has been the sole supplier of interlocking tiles used in Government House since 2006. The former governor also acquired shares in the defunct Standard Trust Bank plc via proxies valued at over N350m in addition to shares worth over N850m in Access, Intercontinental, UBA and Zenith banks through proxies.

On her part, Mrs Egwu established Widow Care Paints under the umbrella of her NGO, Widow Care Foundation. Since its establishment in 2005, the unwritten rule is that all government contractors meet their paint requirements through the company.

Last year, Egwu was dragged before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for making false declaration of his assets between May 1999 and 2006, especially for failing to declare a duplex building in his country home, which the bureau valued of N50m.

According to the bureau’s prosecutor, OT Olatigbe, Egwu was also charged with acquiring above his legitimate means A 5-Star Hotel named Grace Court Hotel, Abakaliki and High Hope International School valued at N350 million, which he acquired by proxy contrary to Section 10 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act Cap C15 LFN 2004 and “punishable under section 23 off same Act, as incorporated under paragraph 18, part 1, fifth schedule to the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’’.

While admitting that it has little information about Egwu’s foreign booty, COGGES provided a list of close associates of Egwu who could provide useful information in this regard.

It was alleged that throughout his eight-year reign, Egwu found the State Local Government Joint Account irresistible. For so long the former governor and his wife regularly dipped their hands into the coffers, run unilaterally by Egwu with the aid of the state’s Accountant-General. Under the arrangement, LG chairmen whose funds were lodged into the accounts and the Joint Account Committee were not allowed to know the inflow and outflow from the account. Instead, they were provided monthly figures by the Accountant-General, Chidi Nwankwo, after the first line deduction of items as approved by the governor. A princely amount of N15billion had been fleeced from the Joint Account as at December 2006. A breakdown of the scam indicates that between December 2004 and the end of 2005, the sum of over N1.2 billion, being excess crude allocation due to the 13 LGAs of the state, was concealed from the Joint Account Committee, resulting in the diversion of the sum by Egwu.

To explain the fraud, the petitioners provided a vivid illustration using allocations for three months in 2004 and 2005. In December 2004, Federal Allocation to the 13 LGAs was put at N831.741m while the actual allocation distributed by the state government came to about N738.849m, leaving the state government with a balance of over N92m. In January 2005, the Federal Allocation was N793.032m whereas a little over N700m was distributed to the LGAs, leaving Egwu with a net profit of about N93m. The figure for February 2005 was N776.298m as Federal Allocation, whereas N683.403m was disbursed, leaving Egwu and his Accountant-General with a balance of N92.895m. Based on this, the petitioners projected that close to N15 billion must have been concealed and stashed away by the former governor in his eight-year rule.

Providing details of internal memos and reports to back its claim, COGGES alleged that Dr. Egwu used his office as governor to solicit for aid, receive sundry bribes and financial benefits from Allstates Trust Bank and other banks operating in the state. His tactics involved blackmailing banks with threats of removal or non-domiciliation of state government accounts from such banks. Prior to his assumption of office, the statutory allocation account of the state was mainly domiciled with Union Bank of Nigeria plc. But all that soon changed after the conservative first generation bank refused to ‘play ball’. The governor ensured that the state account was moved to a ‘compliant’ Allstates Trust Bank. For his effort, Egwu allegedly received over N231millon from Allstates as bribe masqueraded as ‘PR incentive’ gains accruing to the bank on account of its relationship with the state government, loyalty scheme and unsecured overdraft facility\term loans.

In one of such instances, Egwu’s application for an advance of N32m addressed to the Branch Manager, Allstates Trust Bank plc, 1 Ogoja Road, Abakiliki was granted shortly after the application was made on 2 December 2004. The advance which was sought by Egwu to ‘enable him to take care of some pressing personal needs’ was approved with dispatch by Tawari Kester, Credit Risk Manager via an internal memo to the Abakiliki Branch Manager of the bank.

Using the same bait of domiciliation of state account, Mrs Egwu compelled Intercontinental Bank plc to recruit Sam Agbo, her cousin and portfolio manager, as the branch manager of its Abakiliki branch. Mr Agbo who was then a marketing executive with the Abakaliki branch of STB was catapulted to the position of branch manager in his new job with little or no experience in core banking operation. As a reward, Intercontinental Bank plc, Abakaliki was given all the major accounts of Mrs Egwu’s affairs, including the Women Development Centre, Widow Care Foundation, Hope International School, Widow Care Paints and Hardis Nigeria Limited.

Quoting generously from the content of a recent committee report on the salaries of primary school teachers in the state, COGGES spared no punches in lampooning Egwu’s claim to instituting a sound education legacy for the state. The report revealed how the former governor connived with Austin Edeze, the state’s UBEB chairman, to exaggerate the state’s educational position so as to attract fatter intervention funds from Abuja. In all, the duo were alleged to have connived to establish 50 non-existent primary schools, with more than 2000 ghost teachers and 100,000 phantom pupils. By sleight of hand, Egwu was able to report an ever-increasing yearly student enrolment with its attendant yearly increase in the volume of funding from the UBE Headquarters. Egwu and his partner defrauded UBE and its funding partners to the tune of over N83m.

Yet the UBE largesse would seem like toffees when compared with the close to N500m plunder by the duo via the release of N1.1billion by Egwu to Edeze for the construction of 300 UBE blocks in the three senatorial zones of the state. The greater chunk of the project which cost was put at N3.7m per block was awarded to Ultimate Ezes Limited owned by Edeze, Egwu’s UBE chairman.

The former governor is also on the pillory for the use of fronts and proxies to defraud the state of large chunks of money via award of contracts. Some of the regular attributes of such contracts included award without tender or involvement of the Finance and General Purpose Committee; anticipatory approval of significant percentage of the contract sum before the awards are sent to the F&GPC; immediate and repeated variations; inflated sums/poor or incomplete execution, and award of contract to unqualified friends or relations of the governor and his wife.

In one instance, a contract for the building of resident doctors’ quarters at Ebonyi State Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki valued at N328.5m was awarded to Partengoff Nigeria Limited, owned by Olisa Metu, Egwu’s close associate, via a letter of intent, with no evidence of the company’s application. Without subjecting the contract to tender or F&GPC consideration, Egwu approved the payment of N60m mobilisation with no performance bond/bank guarantee. In another case, contract for the purchase of Peugeot vehicles for official use was awarded to M.N Nwankwo, Egwu’s Principal Secretary, for N16.7m. Another contract for the supply of an unspecified number of vehicles was later awarded to KEE Ventures Limited for N67.5m, with N64m mobilisation paid upfront, representing 94 per cent of the contract sum, leaving a balance of N3.5m. Curiously, an additional N10m was handed to KEE Ventures upon delivery of the vehicles as payment for upward variation of the contract and the outstanding balance.

It is also on record that on 26 October 2004, Egwu approved the award of contract for the assessment of Ebonyi State Primary and Secondary Education System to PMI Associates at the cost of N10.15m. Strangely, while the letter conveying the award of the phantom contract was dated 26 October 2004, the letter communicating the completion of work to the governor was dated 27 February 2004!

Like many of his contemporaries, Egwu cherished globetrotting and was ready to pay the price. In November 2005, Egwu approved and released the sum of N11.2m to enable himself, his wife and Eunice Mmachukwu Egwu (baby), Mrs Janet C. Agbo, Mrs Theresa Adua and Hon. Collins Agbo travel to the US on a 14-day trip to witness the graduation ceremony of Sandra Chiamaka Egwu, his daughter.

In April 2006, the governor approved and released the sum of N7.4m to enable his wife, daughter (Chiamaka who graduated a year earlier) and one Dr. Obidigbo Chike travel to China for the 99th session of the Chinese Export Commodities Fair. Though Egwu had approved N5.2m for the trip, the amount was jacked up after Mrs Egwu complained about the paucity of the amount. However, as expected, the additional approval was dressed as funds meant to augment shortfall in purchase of flight tickets.

This was conveyed to the Finance Commissioner via a letter dated 12 April 2006 with reference number EB\SSG\M.039/V.IV\308 and signed by Prof. Ozo Nweke Ozo, Secretary to the State Government. “I convey the approval of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State for the release of the sum of N2,123,542.00 only to augment the shortfall in air fares of Her Excellency, the wife of the Executive Governor and two others, to the 99th Session of Chinese Export Commodities Fair,’’ the memo read in part.

Before the recent travel jamboree, the governor had in 2001 fraudulently designated his younger brother, Joseph O. Egwu, as an Investment Officer of Ebonyi State government and also designated his brother-in-law, Donald O. Ogba, an Education Officer of the state government for the purpose of securing travel visas to the US along with a delegation of Ebonyi State government officials under his leadership as Head of Delegation. That trip cost the state N14.7m.

Away from verifiable statistics of Egwu’s misdemeanors, the petitioners in conclusion called on President Yar’Adua to conduct a thorough and urgent investigation of the allegations it raised against the aspiring National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. “We really believe that Dr. Egwu did not prove in the eight years of his stewardship that he was a fit and proper person to have been saddled with very high responsibilities of the office of governor,” COGGES argued.

As reported by TheNEWS on ( July 2007, condemnation of Egwu’s financial administration began with his own House of Assembly. The then Speaker, Christopher Omisu rejected the eight-year expenditure account under Egwu. He said: “When we requested for statutory expenditures of each ministry, the state government presented us with what we considered to be a working paper which we have referred to the House Committee on Public Accounts for studies. May be the incoming state Assembly will continue where we stopped,” Omoisu declared.

After reading the said report the state auditor-general found all the items to have contained some fundamental errors, spanning all of the years of the Egwu administration from December 31 1999 to 2007. The report highlighted that although the financial details of 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 were not available, those of 1999 to 2003 which were available show that the details of the expenditure were largely incoherent and at variance with established public accounting procedures. In his query on the 1999 expenditure, the Auditor-General submitted thus; “The office of the Accountant-General in its Annual Accounts report submitted to my office did not show how the grants\subventions were paid to the various parastatals in the state. Rather, they were lumped together under the Secretary to the State Government’s Office and their respective state ministries. The arrangement made it difficult for my office to determine how much of the grants\subventions were received by the various parastatals.”

Moreover, the Auditor-General raised questions on the lumping of expenditure of state and local council audit under one head, the decision of the ministries of Finance, Education and the Secondary Education Board to print and use irregular receipts for collection of tolls from motorcyclists, school fees and other tuition fees from students. The Auditor-General noted that these irregular revenue books had no security numbers and lack proper control/checks on them by the responsible establishments. “These made it difficult for proper monitoring of the revenue accruing from them to the state government, a contravention of Ebonyi State Circular No. Eb/MIC\AD.49/133 of August, 1998 and Federal Government of Nigeria decision on the Printing of Official Gazzetes, Revenue Books…” The Auditor-General remarked.

Egwu’s critics, therefore, said that it was for these and more reasons that neither Egwu nor former President Olusegun Obasanjo commissioned any project in Ebonyi for eight years.

However, Dr. John Otu, former Commissioner for Information under Egwu, has a different view about COGGES’ petition. Otu described the writers of the petition as a bunch of discredited politicians and bad losers bent on truncating Egwu’s bid for the PDP Chairmanship. “We have gone through this before; this is not the first petition against Egwu. The good thing is that the EFCC has been here and they have seen for themselves, first hand, all the good things that Egwu has done,” Otu said.

One after the other, Otu took time out to attack the heap of allegations against his former boss.

“Egwu has commissioned road projects across the three senatorial zones of the state. Today, over 200 students of Ebonyi State extraction are enjoying scholarships in various universities across the United Kingdom. We have functional free health care services and Egwu established and built the Ebonyi State University,” the former commissioner intoned.

On the allegation that former president Obasanjo was never in Ebonyi to commission any project throughout Egwu’s reign, Otu thundered: “That’s a big lie. The President was in Ebonyi on 8 December 2000 and laid the foundation stone for the Afikpo/Abakaliki road and commissioned some faculty buildings at the Ebonyi State University. He was also here in 2003 to launch the rice mill in Abakaliki which he nicknamed Uncle Sam’s rice.”

Otu concluded that the smear campaign would not deter Egwu from seeking mandate as the next chairman of the PDP.

When contacted, Celestine Nworji, the immediate past chairman, Local Government Service Commission, declined comment, saying, “Am I EFCC? Go to EFCC and find out?”

Is he the biggest crook walking around Nigeria right now? We'll just have to leave it up to justice.

http://saharareporters.com/www/report/detail/?id=372

For what Dr. Sam Egwu did to the people of Ebonyi State, Eunice Egwu should also be prosecuted as well. Let's not forget that Hope High International School was also acquired with public funds allocated to the state. As stated, "the projects include Hope High International School, Grace Court Hotel and Suites, Widow Care Foundation headquarters building, and private properties of the Egwus in Abakaliki. Investigations at the EFCC revealed that Nwonu, the former auditor-general for local governments, had sometime ago discovered about N3 billion fraud in the local government system. Instead of being rewarded, he was reportedly suspended by Egwu's administration".
http://allafrica.com/stories/200710291194.html

Yes, these are very tough leaders indeed, but since Abubakar is more prone to collapsing the former president's regime, then I'm definitely a fanatic. This means crooks like Dr. Sam Egwu can start facing the music for the billions of Naira they robbed the people of.

In brief, not until the looters are apprehended!

It's a hopeless case when I think of our country. As Nigerians, we must target the leaders who have looted from us. And let's not be idiots, because we are the blame for what's going on in our country. We need better leaders, and not fake leaders who don't have a strong desire to help our country. Out of the 36 former governors, 31 stole from the country, including the former president himself. And it's not like they stole small change short handing us- because they stole billions of Naira from us buying up properties with public funds allocated to the states, cutting out our children's school supplies, constructing better buildings, enabling street lights, overall, preventing a better establishment for ourselves. We must rise in defense of Nigeria! Look at what happened to the Enron scandal. After they embezzled millions creating fictitious accounts to swindle money form the investors, what happened? The people took charge, and all hell broke loose for Ken Lay, Jeffery Skillings and all of the other thieves who conspired with them. Nigeria needs that. We as the people need to initiate a revolution to halt former governors like Alamieseigha(indicted), Egwu, OBJ and all of the other crooks. And if Ribadu is now one of them, then the hell with him- he must go down, too!!!

This explains why Sam Egwu got off the hook when he went to court earlier last year. Being that Sam Egwu is OBJ's lapdog, with Ribadu being in collusion with OBJ, it makes perfect since now to understand why this Sam Egwu was shield from being prosecuted. I guess my wife was right about Ribadu after all. Very interesting. We will see how things turn out.

Nuzu, you're not alone with knowing how Sam Egwu robbed Ebonyi State of billions of Naira. He's name has been ringing bells eversince his exposure initiated. He's what you call a wolf in sheep's clothing, putting up a front to not be detected. The amazing thing about Dr. Sam Egwu is how he "layed low" for most of his tenure without anyone ever hearing about any wrong doing as the state's governor at the time, but you know the mighty God is there to shed light on all evil.

Stillwater's right, because they all embezzled from their states' coffers. From OBJ, Alamieyeseigha, Sam Egwu and all the others.

Very good point, Nuzu, but this is how prosecution begins. You are first exposed, then everything starts crumbling on you. Fact of the matter is, Sam Egwu has been exposed. Once your dirty laundry has been aired, then it's only a matter of time till you fall. And  yes, by far, Sam Egwu is the worse governor up to date. Speaking of embezzling 80 billion Naira- he even left a debt of 10 billion Naira for his successor. How GREEDY can one man be? God gave the man a yard, and he took 3 laps around the earth.

This man is a real crook!

http://allafrica.com/stories/200710291194.html

What do you think?

Aftermath of parley with Yar'Adua; Ibrahim Lamorde takes over EFCC

Do you think he's loyal enough to perform his duties and bring these former government officials to justice?

Link http://odili.net/news/source/2008/jan/6/304.html

Another reason why Nigeria will never prosper is because of looters like Dr. Sam Egwu, embezzling billions of Naira from Ebonyi State as former governor while people are deprived of clean water and electricity!

Time will tell indeed! I'm in favor of anything that will lead to the halt of OBJ obtaining power, because if OBJ goes down all of the other looters will go down with him! And this means that looters like Dr. Sam Egwu will soon be facing the music for what they did to their states!

And all this is to not prosecute the former government officials who looted from the people. What money can do to people, it's simply ridiculous! We will never progress in life as Nigerians! You have looters like Sam Egwu who milked his state dry and now running for PDP chairman, and others who are senators or still part of the government. I simply don't understand the logics of it. If people like Sam Egwu, who looted over billions of Naira are still trying to embezzle more, where is Nigeria going? Sam Egwu himself is a BILLIONAIRE in UNITED STATES DOLLARS! The worse thing is, Sam Egwu, having a PhD in Agriculture, came from  extreme poverty and was a poor man before he became the Governor of Ebonyi State. Is it the mindset of black leaders to undermind their brothers and sisters, depriving them of education and the proper means of building an establishment so they can prosper in life? The white man has done enough to destroy us, so why do it to ourselves? Sam Egwu is one of the richest people on the planet today because of corruption. From having a 5-star hotel (Gracecourt Resort), to purchasing every bit of land he could get his hands on, he now sits on his throne as he patiently waits to become the PDP chairman. I guess being OBJ's lapdog may pay off after all since Ribadu has been sacked. But give it time, and y'all will see the turning point of what's going to happen. People like Sam Egwu is a plague to our country, and they need to be weeded out, extracted from our government, and take away everything that belongs to them, so they can see what it feels like to be deprived. You have the KING OF CORRUPTION, OBJ, the TOPDOG of all of these looters. I don't even know where to begin with him, because he's a total disaster!