The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared former Abia State commissioner, Christopher Enweremadu, and Abia resident, Fortune Ozoemela, wanted over alleged fraud involving local government funds.
The announcement was made on Wednesday, September 3, by EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale in a public notice posted on the commission’s official website.
Enweremadu, who once served as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters under ex-Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, is accused of criminal conspiracy, diversion of public funds, theft, and money laundering.
His last known address was listed as the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Umuahia.
Meanwhile, Ozoemela, 40, an indigene of Abia State, was last traced to Amakama Olokoro in Umuahia.
Both men have been linked to an ongoing EFCC investigation into alleged financial mismanagement of funds allocated to Abia’s 17 local government councils.
The wanted declaration comes less than a year after a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja ordered the EFCC to probe local government allocations in Abia between 2019 and 2023.
The court ruling, delivered in December 2024, directed the seizure of international passports belonging to Enweremadu, former aide Erondu Uchenna Erondu, and Joy Nwanju, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters.
The directive followed an ex parte application by an activist who alleged that billions of naira meant for Abia’s councils were diverted under the watch of the officials.
Confirming the wanted status, Oyewale urged Nigerians to assist security agencies with information about their whereabouts.
“Anyone with useful details should contact any EFCC zonal office in Ibadan, Uyo, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Benin, Makurdi, Kaduna, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Port Harcourt, or Abuja,” the statement read.
However, no further details were provided on the specific transactions linked to the former commissioner.
This latest twist has stirred fresh debates in Abia’s political circles, as the EFCC crackdown on local government funds intensifies.
