Stakeholders from Ebonyi State have called on Governor Francis Nwifuru to immediately relieve the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Grace Umezuruike, of her duties following a court order granting interim forfeiture of an alleged N1 billion she reportedly diverted.

The demand came on Tuesday in a statement issued in Abuja by the President of the Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural in the Diaspora, Pascal Oluchukwu.

PUNCH Online reports that Justice Maurine Onyetenu of the Federal High Court granted the interim forfeiture order on July 8, 2025, following an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Umezuruike and her aide, Ngene Onyeabor, were listed as the first and second respondents.

The EFCC alleged that the duo diverted state funds to six different accounts, all domiciled in United Bank for Africa.

Four of the accounts are reportedly owned by the SSG, while one, bearing the aide?s name, held the sum of N1.014 billion.

The sixth account was opened in the name of Affordable Multi Services Nigeria Limited.

The anti-graft agency noted that the diverted funds were originally earmarked for the purchase of bags of rice for residents of Ebonyi during the 2024 Christmas celebrations.

Despite the seriousness of the allegations, Nwifuru, during a church service at the Government House Chapel in Centenary City, Abakaliki on Sunday, stated that his administration would not rush to conclusions based on the court ruling.

Reacting to the situation, AEISCID President Oluchukwu questioned how such massive corruption could take place in a state plagued by widespread poverty.

?We are thoroughly ashamed of the disposition of the state government towards this grave allegation that has very severe and negative consequences for the State and Ebonyi people, home and in the diaspora,? he said.

Oluchukwu also commended social critic Nwoba Chika, whose petition to the EFCC triggered the investigation and freezing of the implicated accounts.

The group urged the governor to act decisively by removing the SSG within 48 hours to allow for ?a thorough, discreet and unhindered probe? by the EFCC.

?What else does the governor, who claims to be a lawyer, need to understand that once a prima facie case has been established, leading to the freezing of the said accounts for a forfeiture of the diverted funds, the SSG should have been asked to step aside immediately?

?This is a common ethical and standard practice that is well in accordance with the principles of transparency, accountability and probity in governance, which would ensure that all allegations are substantiated without hindrance,? Oluchukwu said.

AEISCID further advised the Ebonyi government to seek legal standing in the forfeiture suit in order to reclaim the funds should it be proven that the money belongs to the state.

?We further admonish the government to show cause by entering to be joined as a party in the suit before the Federal High Court so that in any event the loot is proven to be that of the State, the government can easily reclaim the funds and deploy the same for the benefit of the common masses,? Oluchukwu said.

The diaspora group also urged the EFCC to broaden its investigation to cover contractors who allegedly siphoned public funds during the last two years of the current administration and the preceding eight years under the previous government. (The PUNCH)

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