How Calabar Church Members/Pastorate Celebrated Former INEC Director, Edem Effanga, Arrested For Collecting N240M Bribe

By CrossRiverWatch admin

A former Deputy Director and Head of Voter Education of INEC in Cross River State, Edem Okon Effanga who was arrested last month by the EFCC for allegedly collecting N241,127,000 bribe from the N23.3Billion Diezani election bribe scandal is an elder in the Apostolic Church in Calabar.

Mr. Effanga’s branch of the Apostolic Church, 43 Howell Street, Calabar was in a festive mood on the Sunday of May 2016, which followed his release from detention by the anti graft agency as church members and the pastorate celebrated and congratulated him from his temporary victory over “his enemies”.

According to one of the church members who was in the service who volunteered information to this reporter, “They even prayed that God should protect him from government. While he funds some of the church projects with the stolen money. He is now the church District Financial Secretary.

“He has a child in Law School. The man gives an allowance of 100k every week to fund him. The man has numerous youth choir girls he has been sleeping with yet he is married and also an elder in church.”

Effanga who lives at the Anantigha area of Calabar has not hidden his new lavish lifestyle which is ostensibly being fuelled by the bribe he allegedly collected.

Efforts by our reporter to reach him has been rebuffed by close associates and hangers on at the man’s compound.

CrossRiverWatch gathered that some men of the underworld got wind of his new found fortune and decided to share a part of it.

According to his church member, “Bad guys got wind of his hammer and kidnapped him for ransom, he paid with ease. Weeks later his eldest son was kidnapped, he paid; no qualms. These men are very diabolical. They have formed a cabal in Church, the likes of Etete Nkukung and the rest. They are all in my church.”

Mr. Edem Effanga was arrested April 28th by operatives of the commission from their Port Harcourt Zonal Office and has been release on bail and will soon be charged to court according to sources in the anti graft commission.