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By Our Correspondent, with NAN report.

Former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa was spotted Monday at the Lagos headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), where sources say he made frantic appeals to recover his seized international passport, a clear indication the anti-graft agency is tightening the screws in its investigation into the alleged diversion of N1.3 trillion in derivation funds.

The embattled former governor, who presided over Delta State from 2015 to 2023, arrived at the EFCC’s Directorate 1 on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, in what sources described as a “last-ditch effort” to secure travel documents for urgent medical treatment abroad.

Okowa was first arrested on November 4, 2024, and detained at the EFCC’s Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate for questioning over the massive financial scandal. The probe centers on allegations that the 13 percent derivation funds constitutionally allocated to oil-producing states, were systematically diverted between 2015 and 2023.

“His passport has been in EFCC custody since his initial arrest,” a top commission source told our correspondent. “He is pleading with investigators to release it, citing a medical emergency requiring overseas treatment.”

It remains unclear whether the commission granted his request, with officials maintaining an iron wall of silence on the matter. Multiple attempts to reach EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale were unsuccessful, as his phone rang out without response.

The investigation represents one of the commission’s most high-profile cases, targeting alleged mismanagement of oil revenue by past officials at a time when Nigeria’s fiscal challenges have placed public accountability under intense scrutiny.

Okowa’s legal troubles have been compounded by his dramatic political realignment. In April 2025, he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)—where he served as Vice-Presidential candidate alongside Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 general election—to join the All Progressives Congress (APC). His successor, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, made the same move, alongside other prominent Delta political figures.

Political observers note that the defection has done little to shield the former governor from the long arm of the EFCC, as the agency continues its painstaking investigation into the diversion of derivation funds—money meant to compensate oil-producing communities for the environmental degradation caused by decades of crude extraction.

As the commission’s probe deepens, all eyes remain on whether Okowa will be permitted to leave the country or if the EFCC will hold firm, keeping both his passport and his freedom in the balance.