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Lauded graft fighter Nurdin Abdullah named bribery suspect
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South Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah (center) arrives at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) office in Jakarta on Saturday. Graft busters arrested Nurdin and five others in relation to a corruption case in South Sulawesi. (Antara/Dhemas Reviyanto)
T
he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named South Sulawesi governor Nurdin Abdullah – who has been celebrated for his antigraft stance – a suspect in a bribery case following his arrest on Saturday.
Nurdin has been accused of accepting Rp 2 billion (US$139,874) in bribes from Agung Sucipto, a director of a Bulukumba-based construction company, to facilitate certain projects in the province. Agung allegedly gave the money to Nurdin by way of Edy Rahmat, a secretary at the South Sulawesi Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency and Nurdin's right hand man.
KPK investigators arrested Nurdin in his official residence in Makassar early on Saturday, two hours after they arrested Edy at his house, where they also found a sum of Rp 2 billion in a suitcase. Before that, investigators arrested Agung in his car as he was returning to Bulukumba regency after allegedly handing the money over to Edy. Agung and Edy were named suspects in the case as well.
Nurdin and the two other men were transferred from Makassar to Jakarta on Saturday morning. Upon his arrival in Jakarta, Nurdin told journalists that he had been sleeping when the KPK investigators arrived at his residence and detained him for questioning.
On Friday morning, several hours before the arrests, the governor inaugurated 11 regents and mayors who had been elected in the 2020 regional elections. During the ceremony, Nurdin told the newly elected regional leaders to do their job well, tribunnews.com reported.
Read also: S. Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah, known for his antigraft stance, arrested by KPK
Nurdin was elected in the 2018 South Sulawesi gubernatorial race. His running mate was Andi Sudirman Sulaiman, the brother of former agriculture minister Andi Amran Sulaiman. The ticket was backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and the pair secured 1.86 million votes to defeat Nurdin Halid – former Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) chief – and Abdul Aziz Qahhar Mudzakkar, who won 1.16 million votes.
