The Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) has debunked online media reports that the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) grilled its chairman over allegations of financial misappropriation.
Director and Head of Administration of the agency, Chief Gideon Onyia, in a statement in Enugu on Saturday, noted that the online media reports weren’t only false but a deliberate attempt to tarnish the agency’s reputation.
Onyia expressed the authority’s astonishment at the claims, adding that they had not received any correspondence to that effect.
He clarified that the ICPC had indeed contacted their office, invited an officer of the agency and requesting for some documents.
Onyia made reference to parts of a letter from the ICPC dated March 13, 2025, with reference number ICPC/ENU/INV/038/Vol. 1/2025.
“The commission wishes to inform you that the above-referenced letters are yet to be complied with by your authority, and the officer invited to come along with documents relevant to our investigation also refused to attend to our legitimate invitation,” the ICPC’s letter read.
He further explained that the agency responded by instructing the commission to route their correspondence through the appropriate channel, which is the office of the secretary to the state government.
“Rather than doing that, the ICPC sent another letter on April 7, 2025, with reference number ICPC/ENU/INV/001/Vol. 2/2025, inviting our chairman over complaints related to alleged violations of the ICPC Act, which is not what has been reported by those spreading the false information.
“As a responsible organisation, we replied on April 9, 2025, stating that the letter, which was received after the close of official working hours on April 8, 2025, is by implication received officially on April 9, 2025, the same date for appearing before your commission for interview alongside other specified personnel outside our office.
“Obviously, it is very difficult to meet your invitation, considering your timeline,” he said.
Onyia explained that this genre of invitation that concerns government officials, are to be channeled through the secretary to the state government.
“The SSG will in turn initiate the appropriate processes that will lead to the release of the concerned government official(s) along with relevant official documents as may be required by the commission,” he said.
When approached for comments, the Chairman of ECTDA, Chief Uche Anya, said, “how could I have been grilled for almost 24 hours when I am not under any form of investigation?”
Anya noted that the commission had written to the ECTDA, stating they were investigating my office from 2019 to 2023 (before my appointment) and that they needed some documents from me as chairman to facilitate their investigation.
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“I wrote back, indicating that they should direct the letter through the appropriate authority (the SSG), as we cannot release government documents just like that.
“They responded, asserting their entitlement to collect any document or take action against anyone obstructing their investigation, claiming my failure to provide the documents amounted to obstruction.
“Following this, they sent another letter expressing their displeasure, which amounts to obstructing their investigation, and this led to their invitation letter on April 7, 2025, to which my office responded accordingly.”
Anya noted that in an effort to mitigate the tension from the exchanges, he opted to pay a courtesy visit to the management of the ICPC to assure them that they would comply with their requests, provided they followed the appropriate channel.
“The notion of being grilled is unfounded and a total falsehood,” he added.