The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Uyo Zonal Office has arrested Dr Nkereuwem Akpan, the Director and Project Manager of Akwa Ibom State Agency for Control of AIDS (SACA), for allegedly embezzling N30million.
The money, according to the EFCC, was meant for HIV/AIDS programmes in the state which include outreach, sensitization, HIV testing and counselling, purchase of screening and confirmatory test tie-breaker.
It was learnt that Dr Akpan was arrested on Thursday following intelligence report that he allegedly misappropriated the money paid to the agency in November 2018 by the office of the Secretary to the State Government.
According to a statement by the anti-graft agency, investigations revealed that within November when the money was released to the agency, Akpan instructed that the sum of N24,600,000 be moved into a First City Monument Bank (FCMB) account.
The statement said the account belonged to a company known as Effective Medical Lab, said to belong to Akpan’s accomplice, Peter Uduak.
It was gathered that Peter Uduak, has admitted that he received the said money on the instruction of the suspect, and also withdrew same and handed it over to Dr Akpan in cash.
The EFCC said Uduak confessed that he received the sum of N100,000 from the entire transaction as his own payment.
The anti-graft agency said Akpan has made a useful confessional statement, and will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.
The statement reads: “It was also discovered that immediately the money hit Uduak’s account, he withdrew the money between November 26 and November 28, 2018, and handed it over to Akpan in cash, who in turn deposited N22 million into his private account (Life Link Specialist Laboratory) domiciled in Access Bank.
“Further investigation showed that less than N6 million was used by the suspect, for the purposes for which the N30 million was released.
“During interrogation, the suspect confessed that the essence of instructing the N24,600,000 to be paid into his friend’s company account and later to his company’s account, was to conceal the source of the money, having originated from the SSG.
“The suspect also confessed to using N7,120,000 to purchase Christmas rice for people who helped in contacting the authority for the release of the said money.”
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dominic Ukpong confirmed Mr Akpan’s arrest but said he does not have details on what led to the arrest.
“Yes, he was arrested but I have not been able to get in touch with him since then. I don’t have more details on the matter. I am trying to investigate the claims,” he said.
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