The Ayodele Fayose government in
Ekiti state is under investigation for alleged diversion of over N680 million
meant for salaries and pension of civil servants.
The money was traced by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to a fixed account which the
commission claims yields N6 million monthly.
This was why the state’s
commissioner of finance Toyin Ojo and the accountant general Yemisi Owolabi
were arrested by the commission, though they were released on Wednesday.
They both agreed to assist the
anti-graft agency with relevant documents before they were granted
administrative bail and ordered to report back in two weeks.
Following their arrest and
detention, Governor Fayose criticised the EFCC , describing it as a ‘senseless’
organization, in dire need of restructuring.
He vowed to overhaul and restructure the
anti-graft agency when he becomes president in 2019.
A top source in the commission
disclosed that during the course of investigation of alleged misapplication of
the bailout funds by Fayose’s administration, many things were exposed.
One of such is the N1.7 billion
contract awarded to a Lebanese Company which moved part of the money to
allegedly purchase properties for the governor.
The source said: “Investigators
stumbled on evidence of diversion of funds meant for payment of state and local
government employees in Ekiti state including pensioners.
“Specifically, over N600 million
was diverted on 25 January 2016. The funds comprising N200 million from the
Ekiti state local government salary account, N300 million from the Ekiti state
pension account and N180 million from the Ekiti state FAAC account were first
credited into the Consolidated Revenue Account in Zenith Bank on 25 January
2016 and later transferred the same day into an account called 2015 MDG-CGS
state project account domiciled in Zenith Bank.
“The analysis of the bank statement
revealed that the money was later placed in a fixed deposit where it was
yielding monthly interest of about N6million, at a time pensioners and workers
in Ekiti state are owed months of unpaid entitlements.”
According to the source, EFCC
investigators are going over documents to uncover the beneficiaries of the
monthly interest on the fixed deposit. Apart from the bailout funds, an alleged
diversion of over N59.6 million meant for projects under the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) in Ekiti state by one Abiodun Agbele, an associate of
the state governor, Ayodele Fayose, was also discovered by the EFCC.
The MDGs’ funds were reportedly transferred
from an account in the First Bank of Nigeria (titled MDGs-CGS Local Govt) to
BYKD Consult Limited which is purportedly owned by Agbele.
Documents indicated that the
funds were transferred in four tranches as follows: February 18, 2015(N18, 159,
050; N15, 319,850; N11, 218, 500; and March 30, 2015—N15, 704, 325. Agbele who
is presently on trial is said to have diverted these funds for the payment of
choice vehicles from Affordable Motors.
He was also said to have been
used as a front to launder N1.299 billion for Fayose through his company called
De-Privateer.
Recall that in 2015, President
Muhammadu Buhari agreed to bailout Nigerian states which were unable to pay the
salaries of public workers.
He approved a N713.7 billion
($3.5 billion) relief fund to states.
Of the total sum, N413.7 billion
($2.1 billion) was a special intervention fund, made available to pay
outstanding wage commitments while the remaining N300 billion ($1.4 billion)
was a soft loan to states.
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