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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Some leaders of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) have urged Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State to prevail on the party leadership to stop former aviation minister, Stella Oduah, from contesting the Anambra North Senatorial district, in view of her alleged involvement in a N2.5 billion fraud.
The party leaders, who expressed doubt over her credibility, referenced the recent court process before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), leading to the winding up of her two companies by Justice Hamza Muazu, and the forfeiture of about N2 billion to the Federal Government in a plea bargain arrangement.
They also argued that the alleged unresolved inconsistencies in her academic records constitute a red flag for APGA to risk yielding its platform to her.
Justice Mu’azu had, in a judgment on March 26, pursuant to a plea bargain agreement, convicted Oduah’s two firms – Sobora International Limited and Global Offshore and Marine Limited – after she pleaded guilty on their behalf, issued an order winding them up and further ordered that the N1.2 billion paid as restitution, along with the N780 million recovered during investigation, be forfeited to the Federal Government.
The APGA leaders, acting under the group – Concerned Anambra North Stakeholders (CANS), in a petition to the governor, stated that its aim was to prevail on APGA not to commit the error of yielding its platform to Oduah by preventing her from participating in the party’s upcoming Anambra North Senatorial District Primary Election, in view of the future negative consequences to the party.
In the said petition, dated May 4, signed by Emmanuel Uduaka and Sylvester Nnalue, CANS stated that its position was informed by two key developments, first being her alleged “false statement contained in her submissions to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under oath for the 2015, 2019, and 2023 general elections, in stark violation of sections 66(1)(i) and 315(5)(a) of the Nigerian Constitution.”
The second, the group claimed, is the recent plea bargain she allegedly entered with the Federal Government in a N2.5 billion fraud case where her name and that of her co-defendant were substituted for her two firms in which she forfeited N1.98 billion to the government.
The group claimed that Oduah has consistently made inconsistent claims about her academic records, qualifications and credentials since 2015, which she has allegedly failed to address.
CANS stated that its petition is to bring to Soludo’s attention, “the discrepancies and outright concealment in the documents and credentials presented by Sen. Stella Adaeze Oduah to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under oath, in her previous INEC Forms C.F.001/Affidavit in support of Personal Particulars of persons seeking election to the office/Membership of Senate for the 2015 , 2019, and 2023 general elections.
“Those forms and the false information, therein, are already documents she put in public domain and have, in law, become public documents, which can no longer be withdrawn and remain potent against her at all times.
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“We crave the indulgence of Your Excellency to ensure that Senator Oduah is subjected to strict documentary proof of all her claims on primary school attendance and certificate.
“We strongly believe she never wrote and passed any primary school leaving examination and was never issued with any First School Leaving Certificate contrary to her claims in the aforementioned documents submitted by her to INEC, police, and the courts. This will lead to litigation and subject the party to Section 29(5)(6) of the Electoral Act,” CANS said.
As it relates to Oduah’s complicity in a recently concluded fraud case, the group noted that “via a charge dated October 13, 2025 and filed on October 14, 2025: Princess Stella Oduah & another were charged before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory for an offence of fraud involving over N2 billion.
“In the course of the trial, she opted to do a plea bargain and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation that prosecuted her, entered into a plea bargain where she agreed to return some of the stolen money and, under oath, made an undertaking that she will not, again in her life, get involved in such an act.
“Her making restitution by returning the stolen money led to the conviction of Sobora International Limited, which was substituted for her in the charge.
“This plea bargain and payment of a huge amount to the Federal Government of Nigeria as restitution by Princess Stella Oduah raise serious concerns regarding the integrity of Princess Stella Oduah and her moral and constitutional standing to contest the election.
“Her involvement in a criminal proceeding of this magnitude, the resort to a plea bargain involving restitution of significant sums, and conviction collectively cast a serious shadow on her integrity and she is forbidden by Section 66(1}(c) of the Constitution from contesting the plea bargain notwithstanding.
“Her involvement in this fraud and her entering a plea bargain is a national issue and has been in the public domain. These factors are inconsistent with the constitutional and moral standards required of candidates seeking elective office and will definitely expose her to civil suits challenging her eligibility to contest the election.
“This will surely not augur well for the party, hence the need to stop her when it will cost the party nothing to do so,” the group said.
CANS accompanied its petition with certified true copies (CTCs) of documents relating to the court case, past election tribunal proceedings, INEC forms allegedly completed by Oduah, which contain the academic certificates and information she provided, among others.
