EFCC Gives PDP's Uche Secondus Strong Conditions

I was away when the ex-Acting Chairman of PDP was nabbed by the EFCC but I've been following the case and there are updates. Uche Secondus, who is the Deputy National Chairman of the opposition party, has offered to return the 23 luxury cars he got from a business associate of the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

But the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has refused, giving him a condition to refund to the Federal Government the sum of N310 million, being the worth of the vehicles.

Unfortunately for him, Secondus may remain in detention because the anti-graft agency is also probing his relationship with an oil baron.

There are indications that the screening of Secondus’ financial transactions might provide more clues beyond just the 23 vehicles.

Secondus was quizzed for several hours on Thursday by EFCC operatives in Abuja.

An inside source said: “Secondus is still under interrogation because there are fresh clues we are looking into on how diverted oil receipts from the oil magnate were used for logistics for the PDP.

“The Deputy National Chairman of PDP has admitted that he collected the 23 vehicles from the oil baron. At a point during the interrogation, Secondus voluntarily offered to return all the vehicles to EFCC. He said he was willing to retrieve the vehicles from the beneficiaries.”

Responding to a question, the source told The Nation that: “The EFCC has asked Secondus to refund N310m cash being the worth of the vehicles.

“We are actually not interested in the vehicles, as the value would have depreciated. Oil revenue was used to buy these vehicles and we are demanding nothing but the N310million. It is left to the suspect to cooperate with our team.

“We will keep Secondus in safe custody. Apart from making refunds, there are other clues we have which require more interaction with him.”

Revelations about the vehicles bazaar has created shocks in PDP because most leaders of the party were not even aware that such "big cars" were sent to PDP secretly. They shared it everything quietly.

A member of the NWC said some of the party’s leading lights were just hearing for the first time that vehicles were given to the party by an oil baron. He said “the revelation is shocking.”