The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has filed a lawsuit against former Anambra South Senator Andy Uba and two others over alleged fraud.
The two-count charge, filed under case number FHC/ABJ/CR/538/2024, also names Crystal Uba and Benjamin Etu as co-defendants, while a fourth individual, Hajiya Fatima, is reportedly at large.
The charges, submitted by Abdulrashid Sidi of the Police Force Headquarters’ Legal and Prosecution Section, were presented before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on October 10, 2024.
In the first charge, the defendants are accused of conspiring in 2022 to commit fraud. They allegedly misled George Uboh by claiming they could secure the appointment of a Managing Director for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). This was described as “a presentation which you know is not true and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.”
The second charge alleges that the defendants, including Fatima, conspired to defraud Uboh in 2022 by falsely claiming they had perfected arrangements to secure the NDDC Managing Director position for N400 million. They were accused of obtaining the money and converting it for personal use. The charge states: “A presentation which you know is not true. You obtained the money and converted it into your own personal use and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (2) and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.”
Uboh, in a letter dated April 5, 2023, addressed to the Inspector-General, stated that the petition was supported by documentary and voice-recorded evidence. According to him, the evidence is “overwhelming and irrefutable.”
No fewer than six witnesses have been listed to testify against the ex-lawmaker and the other defendants.
Justice Ekwo adjourned their arraignment to February 18, 2025, following a complaint on November 13 by M.L. Anthony, who represented the Inspector-General. Anthony informed the court that the defendants had been evading the service of court documents despite being granted administrative bail.
He added that efforts to pursue the matter had been ongoing since 2023. The defendants had earlier obtained a fundamental rights enforcement order, which prevented the police from presenting them in court. Anthony explained that it was only after this order was lifted that they were formally charged.
Justice Ekwo adjourned the case to allow the defendants to take their plea.
