By Yinka Ajayi

The arrest, last week, of Mrs Esther Ogbue-Nnamdi, a  former Managing Director of the Petroleum Products  and Marketing Company (PPMC), and currently Managing Director of NNPC Retail Limited, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, by the EFCC, has been described as illegal and an example of how not to fight corruption. “The arrest of Mrs Ogbue-Nnamdi and the ransacking of her office and residence were based on a fictitious petition written by some desperate contractors who believe that her due process adherence at the PPMC has deprived them of opportunity to carry out business as usual,”a group said, yesterday.

Young Professional Alliance for Charge, through its General Secretary, Chukwudi Ifediora, in a statement, said the principal reason for Ogbue-Nnamdi’s arrest was “ falsehood contained in the petition that she built and furnished a N1.2 billion mansion in Maitama within two months”.

The statement went on: “This is absolutely untrue because it is on record that the building in question is the official residence of the accused RENTED for her by the PPMC. It is not her personal property.

“One would have expected the EFCC on receiving the petition to take steps and cross-check with the appropriate agencies of government, including the Federal Housing Authority, the ownership of the property. This was not done.

“It is not our duty to interfere in whatever the EFCC does but we owe a duty to Nigerians and this administration to ensure that only the right thing is done. EFCC must not be desperate to make news. It must be desperate to do what is right in line with the law establishing it and in line with the 1999 Constitution. Arresting and detaining innocent people before carrying out the required investigation is wrong and unacceptable”.