A former governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed, was on Monday grilled and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged fraudulent transactions involving billions of naira that took place during his tenure as governor.

The ex-governor, who was spotted at the EFCC office in Ilorin on Monday morning, was not freed as of the time of filing this report on Monday night.

A credible source in the Ilorin office of the EFCC said the ex-governor was not allowed to leave.

“Yes, the immediate-past governor is here; he got here in the morning and he’s still with us,” the operative told one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity.“Alhaji Ahmed has not been released on bail by the EFCC as we are talking now,” another source told one of our correspondents at 10.31 pm on Monday.

Multiple sources in the EFCC told our correspondents that the anti-graft agency was conducting preliminary investigations into transactions amounting to N10bn, during the tenure of the ex-governor.

The funds, they said, were in connection with some projects executed in the state during Ahmed’s tenure.“It is a preliminary investigation, so it is too early to say that this is what happened to the money. Investigations are still ongoing, so it is when investigations have been concluded that one can say this is exactly what happened to the money. But for now, it is just preliminary investigation,” one of the sources told The PUNCH. Ahmed was governor of Kwara State between 2011 and 2019.

In 2021, a team of EFCC operatives questioned Ahmed at the headquarters of the anti-graft agency in the Jabi area of Abuja, concerning an alleged diversion of funds, amounting to N9bn, from the coffers of the Kwara State government.

Meanwhile, when contacted by our correspondent via phone calls and Whatsapp messages, the spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, declined comments on the issue. Ahmed’s Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji AbdulWahab Oba, confirmed his visit to the EFCC office.

“Dr Ahmed’s visit to the EFCC is procedural and routine. He was invited and he honoured them as he’s always done. He’s always ready to respond to any query or question regarding his tenure as a governor of the state.

So, there’s nothing unusual about the invitation and his honouring the anti-graft agency,” Oba said.