Former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Victor Attah, recounted, on Thursday, how the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) summoned him in the early 2000s after he jokingly told a former First Lady, the late Stella Obasanjo, that he owned a hotel in Barbados.

According to Attah, he made the joke during his holiday in Barbados, where he was asked to receive the First Lady at the airport.

The former governor went down memory lane on Thursday during the public presentation of his biography, titled “Attah: Architect of a New Democratic Dawn.”

The book presentation, attended in Abuja by former President Goodluck Jonathan, among other eminent dignitaries, was part of events marking Attah’s 87th birthday.

Recalling the incident, Attah said, “Now, fast forward, in 2002, I am the governor of Akwa Ibom State. I take my wife and my two children on holidays to Barbados as I used to do quite frequently before.

“Being governor, the High Commissioner in Trinidad came to welcome me, with all the royal treatment.

“Three days later, I got a frantic call from her. ‘Please, are you still on the island?’ I said yes, hoping nothing was wrong. She said the late First Lady, Stella Obasanjo, was coming to Barbados for a holiday, and there was no flight from Trinidad to Barbados. ‘Would you please go to the airport to receive her so she would at least have a reception?

“We went to the airport, it seemed she came with a considerable number of people. After the airport ceremony, I said where are we taking you? She said Sandy Lane. I said, ‘Ah, you’re going to my hotel’, meaning the hotel I designed.”

“Well, after a few days, she left the Island. Two weeks later, I came back to Nigeria, and there was an invitation from the EFCC to come and explain how I owned the Sainte-Helene in Barbados. That tells you the type of Nigeria we have,” he said.

Attah, who returned to private practice after leaving office, described himself as “a professional in politics, not a professional politician.”

He expressed optimism about Nigeria’s future, saying the country would “one day wake up to a democracy renewed, and greatness restored.”

Attah, responding to the tributes, spoke about the values that shaped his public life, attributing them to the disciplined upbringing of his youth.

He also shared light-hearted anecdotes, including how he once arrived at the Government House on a borrowed bicycle, leaving his secretary baffled.

Speaking at the event, Jonathan described Attah as a leader whose resolve and advocacy helped secure the state’s improved share of national revenue.

He said Attah’s persistent push for the abolition of the onshore–offshore dichotomy was pivotal in transforming Akwa Ibom’s finances, noting that the former governor fought against what he described as an unjust revenue framework.

Recalling his days as a young technocrat at the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, Jonathan said Akwa Ibom once received “barely one per cent” from the federation account, but Attah’s insistence on fiscal fairness helped turn the tide.

“Akwa Ibom was receiving only one per cent. Those who enjoy the huge revenue today must understand the struggle that made it possible.

“Victor Attah was not just part of the fight. He was the lion leading the charge. Others fought, yes. But Attah was the champion, number one,” he said.

Jonathan added that although the Supreme Court at the time delivered a judgment that did not favour oil-producing states, Attah’s persistence eventually shaped a more equitable revenue system.

“He showed leadership that was both courageous and purposeful. Akwa Ibom and Nigeria owe him gratitude for the fiscal reforms he championed,” the former president said. (The PUNCH)