Medical Treatment: Okowa Asks EFCC To Release Held Passport
Former Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa has moved to retrieve his international passport from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, seeking to travel abroad for medical treatment even as the agency presses on with its investigation into the alleged diversion of N1.3 trillion in state funds.
Sources within the anti-graft agency said the former governor visited the commission’s Lagos Directorate office on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, on Monday, in connection with the ongoing probe and to push for the release of his travel document. One source clarified that he was not arrested during the visit, describing it as “part of the ongoing investigation into his case,” while another said he “made moves to secure the release of his international passport to attend to some medical issues abroad.” It remained unclear whether the request was granted.
The EFCC has held Okowa’s passport since his arrest on November 4, 2024, when he was questioned at the commission’s Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate. He was later granted bail after meeting the conditions set by the agency.
The investigation centres on allegations that Okowa diverted about N1.3 trillion in 13 per cent derivation funds accruing to Delta State from the Federation Account between 2015 and 2023, the eight years he governed the oil-producing state. The commission is also examining claims that he failed to account for the funds and for a separate N40 billion allegedly used to acquire shares in UTM Floating Liquefied Natural Gas and a major commercial bank, said to represent about 8 per cent equity in the offshore project.
Okowa has consistently denied wrongdoing. After his release, he dismissed the scale of the allegation as implausible, arguing that diverting N1.3 trillion would mean “taking between N16bn and N20bn every month.” He added, “I don’t even know if the President of this country will be able to do that, not to talk of the governor of Delta State,” recalling that revenue in his first three years, 2015 to 2017, “was not even enough to pay salaries at all.” Efforts to reach him through his former aide, Charles Aniagwu, were unsuccessful, while the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, did not respond to calls.
The case forms part of a wider EFCC sweep around the former administration. In December 2024, the commission detained Delta’s Accountant-General, Joy Enwa, over the same N1.3 trillion inquiry, and questioned other officials, including a former director of finance and a senior Government House official, according to statements credited to Oyewale at the time.
The probe also carries a political dimension. Okowa served as the Peoples Democratic Party’s vice-presidential candidate alongside Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 general election, then defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress in April 2025 alongside his successor, Sheriff Oborevwori, and other Delta political figures. That realignment has fuelled public debate over the pace of anti-corruption cases involving politically exposed persons, a recurring concern raised by civil society groups, which have repeatedly urged the commission to pursue cases transparently regardless of party affiliation.
For now, the passport request leaves the matter finely balanced. The EFCC must weigh a citizen’s stated medical needs against the integrity of a high-profile financial investigation, one of several it has framed as targeting alleged mismanagement of oil revenue by past officials. No charges have yet been filed.