EFCC Arrests Atiku’s Lawyer Ahead Presidential Election

In less than four days to the Presidential election in Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested a lawyer to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.

Naija News reports that the lawyer to the candidate, Uyiekpen Giwa-Osagie, was picked up by the EFCC operatives during the late hours of Monday, February 18 over allegations of money laundering.

Giwa-Osagie was apprehended by the operatives of the EFCC late Monday and was allegedly implicated by a bureau de change operator who allegedly identified him as the owner of the money.

This News platform understands that Giwa-Osagie had been undergoing interrogation in the custody of the anti-graft commission in recent times.

A source from the anti-graft agency alleged that the money might have been budgeted towards manipulating the forthcoming election of Saturday, February 23.

“We believe the money was earmarked for either campaign financing, vote-buying or to compromise electoral officials but investigations would show what the money was meant for, the sources and why it was routed outside regular banking channels,” the source said.

As at the time of filing this report, the acting spokesman for the EFCC, Tony Orilade, could not comment on the detention of the lawyer but had earlier promised to find out about the arrest from the relevant department in the commission.