From John Adams, Minna
Barely one week after critising the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration in Niger State for non-performance, the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tanko Beji, a lawyer, has been arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Beji was reportedly invited to the Abuja office of the EFCC last Thursday where he was detained after three hours of interrogation.
It could not be confirmed why the PDP chieftain was invited and detained by the anti-graft agency, but a source at the party’s office in Minna claimed that his arrest was not unconnected with series of interviews he granted the media in which he (Beji) criticised the APC in the state for lack of direction. It could be recalled that Beji had last week granted interviews to some media (Daily Sun inclusive) where he described the two years administration of APC government in the state as a collection of people who have no business in governance.
The party source, who confirmed the arrest and detention of Beji, said a chieftain of the APC in the state had complained to “Abuja” that Beji was using the media to “intimidate and harass the APC administration in the state.”
“It was on the strength of this complaint that Tanko Beji was invited to Abuja for questioning by the EFCC” the source said. It was learnt that Beji could be arraigned along with former Niger State governor, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu and his former Chief of Staff, Alhaji Umar Mohammed Nasko, this week.