By Ifeanyi Okolie
LAGOS—THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is expected to arraign the erstwhile Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Intercontinental Bank PLC, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, in court this week.
The ex-bank chief is spending his fifth day in the EFCC’s headquarters in Abuja where he is being questioned for cases relating to money laundering and granting of non-performing loans, estimated at about N700billion.

He returned into the country from the United Kingdom last Wednesday.

The former bank executive who flew into the country through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, aboard a British Airways flight, surrendered himself to the commission at the its headquarters in Abuja, less than 24 hours after his arrival.

The commission, last week, secured a court order from an Abuja High Court to keep the embattled former bank executive in their custody longer than the 48 hours prescribed by the law.

Spokesman for the Commission, Femi Babafemi, yesterday told Vanguard that the commission was likely to arraign  Akingbola in Lagos this week.

He said: “We are rounding up our investigation and we are likely to arraign him this week. Our operatives are working 24 hours round the clock to make sure they uncover substantive evidence. We will definitely inform you before he will be arraigned.”

Akingbola left the country in August last year, shortly before the Central Bank of Nigeria announced his removal, alongside four other bank CEOs for alleged financial misconduct.

The four, who are already being prosecuted, are: Mrs. Cecelia Ibru, Oceanic Bank; Mr. Bartholomew Ebong, Union Bank; Mr. Sebastine Adigwe, Afribank; and Mr. Okey Nwosu, Finbank. They were all admitted to bail by the courts.