On the 14th of April, newspapers in Nigeria reported the arrest of Rochas Okorocha, the immediate past governor of Imo State, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Forty-eight hours later, the ex-governor was released, while the basis of his arrest is still not open to the public. Okorocha is not the first governor to be cross-examined by the EFCC. He is the 30th former governor to be arrested by the anti-graft agency.
All these former chief executives of states who governed between 1999 to 2019 were either accused or indicted by the anti-graft agency. Some of them were finally convicted by the courts for charges bordering on money laundering, fraud, embezzlement, and corruption, among others, while few were acquitted by the courts.
In Nigeria, it has become commonplace to find governors being tried for cases of embezzlement of state funds. However, in order to protect the dignity of the office of a governor, the Nigerian Constitution thrice asserts that a candidate for the office would be deemed unfit if he or she presents with any symptoms of a dishonest or fraudulent character.
Section 182. (1) of the Nigerian Constitution states that “No person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if –
d) he is under a sentence of death imposed by any competent court of law or tribunal in Nigeria or a sentence of imprisonment for any offence involving dishonesty or fraud (by whatever name called) or any other offence imposed on him by any court or tribunal or substituted by a competent authority for any other sentence imposed on him by such a court or tribunal; or
(e) within a period of less than ten years before the date of election to the office of Governor of a State he has been convicted and sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty or he has been found guilty of the contravention of the code of Conduct; or
(i) he has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry or an Administrative Panel of Inquiry or a Tribunal set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, a Tribunals of Inquiry Law or any other law by the Federal or State Government which indictment has been accepted by the Federal or State Government;”
Out of the 30 governors investigated by the EFCC, 4 governed in the south-west, 7 in the North-central, 5 in the South-south, 6 in the south-east, 3 in the Northwest and 5 in the northeast of the country.
Source: EFCC, Dataphyte Research
Dataphyte confirmed that 7 of the accused governors have been convicted so far, one acquitted and the graft cases of the others are either ongoing or stalled.
The data also revealed that among the governors investigated by the EFCC, only Rochas Okorocha and Abdulaziz Yari (who had his first term under ANPP) belonged to the All Progressive Congress (APC). The remaining 28 former governors were all from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) while the alleged embezzled state funds by all of them approximated to a trillion naira.
Source: Dataphyte Research
The data further revealed that those past governors from the country’s northeast allegedly stole more state resources than their other colleagues, with the northwest governors trailing at second place in the amount of state resources they were suspected to have pillaged.
The estimated sums allegedly embezzled by the past governors amounted to a total of N355.80 billion in the North-east, N316.35 billion in the Northwest, N161.160 billion in the South-South, N62.67 billion in South-East, N56.16 billion in North-central, and N23.30 billion in South-West – the region with the least quoted amount of looted funds.
The names of the 30 former governors suspected to have committed significant acts of corruption against their states are listed below.
| Name | State | Region |
| Gabriel Suswam | Benue | north central |
| Audu Abubakar | Kogi | north central |
| Bukola Saraki | Kwara | north central |
| Abdullahi Adamu | Nasarawa | north central |
| Aliyu Akwe Doma | Nasarawa | north central |
| Joshua Dariye | Plateau | north central |
| Jonah Jang | Plateau | north central |
| James Bala Ngilari | Adamawa | north east |
| Murtala Nyako | Adamawa | north east |
| Ali Modu Sheriff | Borno | north east |
| Danjuma Goje | Gombe | north east |
| Jolly Nyame | Taraba | north east |
| Sule Lamido | Jigawa | north west |
| Aliyu Wammako | Sokoto | north west |
| Abdulaziz Yari | Zamfara | north west |
| Orji Uzor Kalu | Abia | south east |
| Theodore Orji | Abia | south east |
| Chimaroke Nnamani | Enugu | south east |
| Sullivan Chime | Enugu | south east |
| Rochas Okorocha | Imo | south east |
| Ikedi Ohakim | Imo | south east |
| Godswill Akpabio | Akwa Ibom | south south |
| Diepreye Alamieyeseigha | Bayelsa | south south |
| Timipre Sylva | Bayelsa | south south |
| James Ibori | Delta | south south |
| Lucky Igbinedion | Edo | south south |
| Peter Ayodele Fayose | Ekiti | south west |
| Olugbenga Daniel | Ogun | south west |
| Adebayo Alao-Akala | Oyo | south west |
| Rashidi Ladoja | Oyo | south west |
Source: EFCC, Dataphyte Research
Many of the afore listed names still parade themselves in public offices and political parties in Nigeria today. This culture of honour for those whose hands are stained by graft places the country among the most corrupt countries in the world, ranked 149th among 180 countries, according to The Amnesty International corruption ratings. Nigeria was estimated in 2012 to have lost over $400 billion to corruption since its independence.