Metuh was picked up at his residence, located at Drive One, Prince and Princess Estate in the Games Village area of Abuja.
Four officials of the commission allegedly arrived at his residence in the early hours of the day and asked him to follow them to the commission’s headquarters at Wuse Zone 2.
Metuh’s Special Assistant, Mr. Richard Ihediwa, confirmed the arrest of his boss.
Ihediwa said, “Upon enquiry on the reasons for the invitation (by the EFCC officials), the officials stated that he had some issues to clear at the commission.
“They also said he was not being arrested but friendly invited. The operatives, four in number, came in a white unmarked Toyota Hiace bus.”
He added that Metuh was still being kept at the commission’s headquarters while his lawyers were making frantic efforts to reach him.
The PDP spokesman had said on Monday that he had yet to be invited for questioning by the EFCC and wondered why he would be reading about the plan to interrogate him on the pages of newspapers.
Metuh is said to be under investigation for allegedly collecting about N400m from the office of the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), who had been arraigned for allegedly diverting over N45bn meant for the procurement of arms during the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The opposition publicity secretary had agreed that he collected an undisclosed sum of money from Jonathan.
He stated that he got the undisclosed amount for carrying out unspecific work, as the spokesperson for the PDP, for the former President.
The Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the interrogation of the PDP’s spokesman in a text message to our correspondent.
He said, “I can confirm that Metuh is currently being interrogated by operatives of the agency.”
But the PDP said the EFCC was not a court of law, stating that the commission must follow due process.
The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Abdullahi Jalo, said this while responding to the arrest of Metuh.
He said the PDP had nothing against the anti-corruption campaign by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, but urged that the war should be waged within the confines of the nation’s laws.
Jalo said, “As a party, the PDP does not oppose the anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buhari. What we are saying is that due process must be followed.
“If a man is arrested for any offence, especially this one that is bailable, he or she should be taken to court within 48 hours as stipulated by our laws.
“The EFCC or any anti-corruption body for that matter is not a court of law and cannot, on its own, be the judge, jury and executioner.
“We also make bold to say that as our members are being accused and arrested for what they did or did not do during the last administration, there are also individuals in the ruling APC, who also have questions to answer.
“We hope these agencies will also have the courage to invite such people no matter what role they are playing in government today.”
Jalo, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, however, distanced the party from the act allegedly committed by Metuh and his company.
He said, “At the same time, it (Federal Government) should separate a crime (allegedly) committed by a person in an individual capacity from the PDP as a party. For example, Olisa Metuh has (allegedly) committed the offence on his own as an individual, not on behalf of the party.”
Jalo described the PDP’s 16-year rule as a proof that the party was not corrupt and argued that it would be unfair to criticise the party’s policies based on Metuh’s arrest.
According to the spokesperson, Metuh could not have collected the money on behalf of the party as “all party money must go through the National Chairman because he is the highest authority in the party.”
Jalo added, “Is party money supposed to be distributed through the publicity secretary or the national chairman? How can a company that belongs to Metuh collect money on behalf of the party? Is it normal? The answer is no.
“This little setback is an act of God and it will make the party to be greater because of the lessons it has learnt. In the party, you can get 80 per cent good eggs and 20 per cent bad eggs. It is there in the APC as well.
“You can point to people in the APC that we know clearly are corrupt in their individual capacities. The arrest of Olisa Metuh, as far as the party is concerned, if this crime is established in a court of law, he has done it on his own as a person, not on behalf of the PDP.”
Culled.
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