Oba Otudeko on the run?
By Sola Edu
Former chairman of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), Oba Otudeko, has allegedly run away from Nigeria, as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to arraign him on Monday over an alleged N12.3bn fraud.
Otudeko and three alleged accomplices are to be arraigned by the EFCC on a 13-count charge of alleged fraud in First Bank of Nigeria Plc.
Sources said that the billionaire businessman departed Nigeria through the land borders, after he was dropped off at the Nigeria-Benin border on Thursday evening by a family member.
It was gathered that Otudeko’s phone number was switched off when contacted, while messages sent to his WhatsApp, however, delivered, without any response.
His son, Obafemi Otudeko, did not respond to calls and messages when contacted for comments on his father’s whereabouts and destination.
It would be recalled that, on Thursday, the EFCC filed charges against the suspects at the Federal High Court, Lagos, for allegedly stealing N12.3 billion from First Bank.
Otudeko’s alleged accomplices are Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, a former group managing director of the bank; Soji Akintayo, an exboard member of Honeywell Flour Mills plc; and Anchorage Limited, a company linked to Otudeko.
They are alleged to have obtained loans from the bank between 2013 and 2014 in tranches under the pretence that the funds were obtained by some firms.
The loans are said to be in various tranches of N12.3 billion, N5.2 billion, N6.2 billion, N6.1 billion, and N1.5 billion.
