Anambra State ex-governor Willie Obiano was arrested at Lagos Airport in March 2o22 as he tried to flee the country to America just hours after handing over power to his successor Charles Soludo.
The former governor, who lived in Houston, Texas before his eight-year tenure, was facing an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigation for 4bn naira fraud and money laundering from the state’s “security vote”.
While he was in power, a source revealed to Naijiant.com that then First Lady Ebele Obiano was actually controlling the “security vote”. Her husband was subsequently granted bail allegedly for medical treatment and he used the opportunity to flee to Houston, where he has been holed up ever since. He has no intention of returning to Nigeria to face the music.
Mrs Obiano was known as “Osodieme” (loosely translated as “following in her husband’s footsteps”) in her time as First Lady, and it does appear that she followed the corrupt example of her husband. A source has informed Naijiant.com that she owns, via two female fronts, two huge events centres on either side of Bissonnet Street in Houston. Those two venues have been used for many parties and celebrations by the Nigerian community in Houston, with very few aware of the possibility that ownership of the centres is linked to money laundering and the proceeds of crime.
“Osodieme” became a viral hit on social media when she was at the receiving end of what in Nigerian parlance is called a “dirty slap” from current Nigeria foreign minister Bianca Ojukwu during the swearing-in ceremony for governor Soludo in 2022.
With the Obiano and wife many miles away from the long arm of the EFCC, it appears that slap is the only punishment Mrs Obiano would receive for their crimes.
