Rivers Crisis: EFCC Declares Fubara Wanted? Fact Emerges

Amid the political tension in Rivers state, there are a series of reports about the growing rift between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.

Tensions grew further on Monday, May 13, when the governor announced his plan to constitute a committee to probe Wike’s administration, which he was part of.

Hours after, a social media user on X, identified as @possible1001, claimed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had declared Fubara wanted, using “BREAKING”.

The tweet reads:

“BREAKING:

“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has declared the Rivers State Accountant-General, Fubara Siminayi, and 58 others wanted for N435 billion fraud…”

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This was totally misleading, as a thorough check by Legit.ng showed that the post predated the current event in the state.

See the tweet here:

Has EFCC declared Governor Fubara wanted?

Though the X user did not cite any credible media as the source of the claim that the post was breaking, he shared the regular publicity image from the anti-graft agency EFCC, which included the governor’s photo.

After subjecting the image to Google Image to fact-check, it was discovered that the image the X user shared was dated September 2018, when the EFCC declared Fubara, the then director of finance of the Rivers state government and three other members of the cabinet wanted.

In May 2022, Legit.ng reported that the EFCC declared Fubara, who was the accountant general of the state then, wanted.

There, it is important to clarify that the claim that the EFCC declared Fubara wanted was not a recent report, as the social media user has claimed.

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Furthermore, Fubara is now a sitting governor of the oil-producing state and will enjoy constitutional immunity until the end of his tenure if he has a case to answer.

How long does Fubara serve under Wike

Reacting to the plan to probe Wike, a journalist tweeted:

“Fubara should start by telling us what happened to the EFCC allegation of N435 billion and all that happened in the govt he served.”

Fubara was appointed the accountant general of the state in December 2022. He left the position after he emerged as the Rivers governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2022.

See Oseni’s tweet here:

Source: Legit.ng