Melford Okilo

Melford Okilo was the first elected Governor of Rivers State (1979–1983) and a pioneer of Niger Delta development (Niger Delta Development Board, 1961; later NDDC headquarters named in his honour). After the December 1983 Buhari coup he was arrested and tried by a military tribunal on embezzlement charges, but acquitted in July 1986 under Babangida's judicial-review regime. No subsequent corruption cases are documented. Recommend `contextual` archive entry with the 1984 tribunal preserved as historical detail.