EFCC says the DSS acted on a Watch-list request issued on July 18, 2016, over six years before Okupe’s recent conviction
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has confirmed that the former Labour Party director general, Doyin Okupe, was arrested in error.
In a statement by the anti-graft spokesman, Wilson Uwajaren, the error emanated from an outdated 2016 security watch list which featured Okupe’s name.
But the Department of State Services (DSS) claimed that it arrested Okupe at the behest of the EFCC.
The EFCC, however, in a statement said the watch-list which featured Okupe’s name was outdated since the former Labour Party DG was already convicted by a High Court in a case the EFCC instituted.
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The statement reads: “The Department of State Services, DSS, today, January 12, informed the Commission of the interception of Dr. Doyin Okupe, former presidential adviser, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
“The Service acted on a Watch-list request issued on July 18, 2016, over six years before his recent conviction on money laundering charges by the Federal High Court, Abuja.
“The Commission was in the process of formally lifting the watch-list before his interception and will expedite action in this regard.”