Ex-Bayelsa Gov, Seriake Dickson explains why EFCC invited him

A former governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, has explained that he was at the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to clarify some issues related to assets declaration. 

The former governor, who is currently  representing Bayesla West Senatorial District in the National Assembly, was at the office of the anti-graft agency in Abuja on Tuesday upon the invitation of the agency. He was later released to go home.

According to a statement he issued later in the day, Seriake explained that a non-governmental organization had petitioned the EFCC over some of his assets which they claimed were not declared.

“I understand that the subject matter of the inquiry relates to investments of my family trust, which I incorporated while being a member of the House of Reps to hold my family assets and investments which were made between 1996 and 2012 before I became Governor.

“I understand that there is a petition from an NGO alleging that these investments (largely buildings, plots, farms, etc in my village, Orua, Yenagoa, and two buy-to-let houses in the UK) were not declared. I have a duty to clarify these issues with the investigating authorities who by law have the responsibility to inquire into these matters”, the statement said.

The lawmaker added that the said his family investments were made before he became the governor of the the oil-rich state and that these assets were declared to the right quarters before and after he left office.

“My solicitors and those of the trust have written to the EFCC to clarify these issues with the accompanying documents,” he stressed.

The former governor stressed that on getting to the EFCC office, the investigating team made fresh allegation of a diversion of N17.5 billion flood funds in 2012.

“The petition further alleged that the money was used for my re-election in 2019. The fact is that there was no such donation about the 2012 flood in Bayelsa.

“Curiously, there was no mention of donor or where the money came from. There was also no re-election for governorship in Bayelsa in 2019 which are clear proofs that the petition was totally frivolous”, the statement continued.

The EFCC, according to Senator Seriake, said, is ‘looking into these allegations’