Okupe, who resigned from his role in the LP Presidential Campaign team in December 2022, said the EFCC apologised for the “error”.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has released the former Director-General (DG) of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Doyin Okupe.
TheNiche reported earlier that Okupe was arrested on Thursday morning by the Department of State Services (DSS) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos.
According to the DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, Okupe was arrested at the request of the EFCC.
Okupe has, however, confirmed his release in a tweet, saying the EFCC apologised for the “error”.
He wrote, “I was arrested and detained @ the MM int airport, Lagos this morning 12th Jan on my way to UK for medicals yrs of my passport being withheld by the FHC Abuja.
“I hv just left the efcc office where snr officers in lagos & Abuja appologised to me for the error. OCCUPATIONAL HAZZARD abi?”
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One of Okupe’s lawyers, Tolu Babaleye, told Vanguard that the DSS asked the Ogun-born politician to provide court processes where he paid the fine option following his money laundering conviction by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
The LP chieftain was billed to fly to London via Virgin Atlantic before he was arrested.
Okupe resigned from his role in the LP Presidential Campaign team in December after Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of a Federal High Court in Abuja on December 19, 2022 found him guilty of receiving over N200 million cash from former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, ruling that his action violated the Money Laundering Act.
The court held that Okupe was guilty in counts 34, 35, 36, and 59 brought against him by the EFCC and sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of a fine. He has since paid the fine.