Fact-Check: No Evidence EFCC Re-Arrested Ifeanyi Okowa in June 2026
Claim: Former Delta State Governor and APC senatorial candidate Ifeanyi Okowa has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Verdict: Misleading. While Okowa was arrested...
Claim: Former Delta State Governor and APC senatorial candidate Ifeanyi Okowa has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Verdict: Misleading. While Okowa was arrested and questioned by the EFCC in November 2024 over alleged financial misconduct, there is no evidence that he was arrested in June 2026, as implied by the viral social media post.
Full Story
An X user, Mayor of Calabar, claimed that former Delta State Governor and APC senatorial candidate Ifeanyi Okowa had been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
On June 22, 2026, several media outlets reported that Okowa had visited the Lagos office of the EFCC to seek the release of his international passport to facilitate a planned trip abroad.
The same day, a social media post was presented as a breaking development, creating the impression that the arrest had just occurred. Within 48 hours, the post attracted significant engagement, generating over 59,700 views, 652 likes, and 223 reposts.
See the screenshot below.
The claim sparked mixed reactions among users. While some welcomed the reported development, others questioned its authenticity.
One user, Nwanze TY, asked, “Where did you get this information from?” Another user, Chukwuneye Osaebede, dismissed the report as “fake news.”
Okowa, alongside Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and other political stakeholders, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2025. The defectors said the move was necessary to position Delta State for greater cooperation with the federal government and access to national opportunities.
Given the political implications of the claim, NDRFactCheck investigated its accuracy.
Verification
A review of publicly available records shows that operatives of the EFCC arrested and questioned Okowa in November 2024 over allegations involving the diversion of approximately N1.3 trillion in 13 percent derivation funds received by Delta State between 2015 and 2023.
Following the interrogation, the anti-graft agency granted him administrative bail while retaining his international passport as part of the ongoing investigation.
In 2025, Okowa, who served as the PDP vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, defected to the APC. At the time, the EFCC publicly maintained that his defection would not affect or halt ongoing investigations.
Further checks showed that on June 22, 2026, the same day the viral claim was posted, several media outlets reported that Okowa had visited the Lagos office of the EFCC to seek the release of his international passport to facilitate a planned trip abroad.
NDRFactCheck also reviewed the official EFCC website and its verified social media platforms for any announcement indicating that Okowa had been arrested on or around June 22, 2026. No such information was found.
In summary, the claim that Ifeanyi Okowa was arrested by the EFCC in June 2026 is misleading.
Although the former governor was arrested and interrogated by the commission in November 2024, there is no evidence that a fresh arrest occurred in June 2026. Available reports indicate that Okowa merely visited the EFCC office regarding the release of his international passport, not that he was taken into custody.
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