Another Nigerian ex-governor targeted in graft probe

LAGOS (AFP) - Nigerian authorities declared an ex-state governor wanted Friday over corruption allegations involving hundreds of millions of dollars, the fourth ex-governor caught up in graft investigations this week.

"The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared former governor of Gombe state, Danjuma Goje, wanted over allegations of mismanagement and diversion of over 52 billion naira (324 million dollars, 240 million euros) (in) state funds," it said.

Goje, 59, was governor of the northeastern state from 2003 to 2011 and elected as a senator in April elections. The EFCC said Goje had failed to come forward for interrogation over the alleged fraud.

The agency on Thursday detained three former state governors who left office after April elections as part of corruption investigations: Gbenga Daniel, Adebayo Alao-Akala and Aliyu Akwe Doma respectively of Ogun, Oyo and Nassarawa states.

The three are among more than a dozen former governors that the EFCC is investigating for corruption, a source in the agency said. Nigeria's 36 state governors are given immunity from prosecution while in office.

Public office holders in Nigeria -- and particularly state governors -- have often been accused of stealing funds, sometimes running into hundreds of millions of dollars.

The country, Africa's most populous nation and its largest oil producer, is regularly ranked as one of the world's most corrupt.

Former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, who died in 1998, was alleged to have siphoned off up to $2.2 billion from the country's central bank.