Former Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has denied allegations that he refunded over ₦500 billion to the state government as part of a covert arrangement to avoid prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Rumours had circulated across Delta State that the former governor secretly refunded the massive sum in an effort to avoid legal consequences, preserve political influence, and negotiate a possible soft landing with anti-graft authorities.

However, speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Olise Ifeajirika, Okowa dismissed the claims as false and baseless.

“It’s not true that my boss, Okowa, returned such money. The EFCC is at liberty to do its job,” Ifeajirika said.

“He (Okowa)was invited and shown documents, and he responded accordingly. The EFCC has been visiting Delta State and inviting people for questioning. We believe the investigation is still ongoing. Only when it is concluded and a case is established can issues of refunds or prosecution arise.

“There is no truth to claims of returning money to the Delta State Government or the EFCC,” he added.

Okowa and his predecessor and political mentee, Governor Sheriff Oborevwor rejected dumped the Peoples Democratic Party to join the ruling All Progressives Congress.

The move fuelled insinuation that Okowa was trying to evade prosecution by the EFCC.

Meanwhile, Oborevwori, on Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Delta governor, who arrived the Villa at about 3:45 p.m, unaccompanied, went into a closed-door session wih the President.

It was the first time he would meet Tinubu since his crossover from the PDP to the ruling APC.

On April 23, 2025, Oborevwori became the first sitting Delta State governor to defect from the PPDP since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999.

In a dramatic political realignment, Oborevwori, his deputy, Monday Onyeme, commissioners, local government chairmen, and the PDP’s grassroots structures also defected to the APC following a closed-door meeting in Asaba.

Okowa, who served as the PDP’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, led the mass defection, signaling a major power shift in the South-South.