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outh Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin failed once again on Thursday to show up for a round of questioning from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in a high-profile graft case centering on the construction of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games athletes'€™ village.

The KPK planned to question Alex as a witness in the case, to confirm the testimony of former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, who claimed that the governor had received billions of rupiah in kickbacks from the project.

South Sumatra administration spokesman Zaki Aslam said Alex, who failed to meet the first summons on March 24, was too busy working.

'€œToday, the governor has a number of events in South Sumatra including meeting with the people in Palembang,'€ Zaki said on Thursday.

The KPK recently said that it was closer to indicting Alex, especially after the antigraft body charged the head of a local agency identified as Rizal Abdullah with corruption in the case.

The graft-ridden construction project has already resulted in the convictions of Nazaruddin, House of Representatives lawmaker Angelina Sondakh, former Youth and Sports Ministry secretary Wafid Muharram and Mohamad El Idris, the marketing manager at PT Duta Graha Indah (DGI), which was awarded the contract to build the athletes'€™ village for the games.

Acting KPK commissioner Johan Budi said that the antigraft body would issue a third summons for Alex in the case, but refused to confirm whether the governor would be brought in by force for questioning in the case.