Imo deputy Speaker flaunts chieftaincy title amid a court order for his arrest for fraud

The Deputy Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Hon Amarachi Iwuanyanwu, has come under public criticism over his flaunting of chieftaicy title at a time when the Economic and financial Crime commission, EFCC, is legally empowered to arrest him in line with court order issued by the Abuja division of the federal High court for a fraudulent act.

Hon Nwachucku recently posted on his Instagram handle pictures of him being conferred with the chieftaincy title of the Amarachukwu of Nwangele by the 13 traditional rulers in the Nwangele local government area of the state.

A federal high court Abuja division, in a ruling delivered in November by Justice Inyang Ekwo, directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services, the Nigerian Immigration Services and the Interpol, to arrest the lawmaker, “anywhere he is sighted in Nigeria or outside Nigeria and produce him before this honourable court or to the EFCC headquarters, Abuja.”

Though the petitioner in the case refused to comment on the conduct of the Deputy Speaker based on the fact that the case is before the court, observers are, however, irritated and angry at the inability of Hon Iwuanyanwu to live up to the dictates of his office and status in the society.

Hakiz Investment Company Limited had filed a petition to the chairman of the EFCC, signed by its lawyer, Mr A. A. Malik, SAN, in which it alleged that sometime in 2012, the company entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hon Iwuanyanwu’s company to develop an estate comprising 14 units of four bedroom terraces and a block of six flats on the petitioners land situated at Mabuchi, Abuja.

It further explained that the contents of the MOU which is binding on the parties stipulated that upon completion of the Estate by the Respondent, the defendant, who is the owner of the land, would take 40 percent of the building while the respondent, being the developer, would take the remaining 60 percent.

However, the EFCC alleged that its investigations had so far showed that upon completion of the Estate, defendant sold out all of the buildings and criminally diverted the proceeds without the knowledge of the Respondent/Complainant.

Furthermore, the EFCC stated that the market value of the buildings was about N785m, adding investigations were still ongoing and that all invitations extended to Hon Iwuanyanwu and his company to step forward and state their version of the financial transaction had proved abortive

The order for Iwuanyawu’s arrest was sequel to an ex-parte application dated November 14, which the EFCC brought before the court through its lawyer, Mr Olanrewaju Adeola.

In the application marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2124/2024, EFCC told the court that it got an intelligence that the lawmaker had since escaped from the country and was hiding in the United States of America, USA.

Hon Uwuanyanwu has been seen both in and outside Owerri legislative office moving around freely and unhindered, rollicking with fellow politicians while also refusing to take any concrete steps to vacate the court-ordered warrant arrest on him.

The fraud case has been adjourned to February 2023 for hearing.