Boco Edet
24 July 2008
Six top officials of the Kogi State government, among them the Speaker of the State House of Assembly Chief Clarence Olafemi were yesterday interrogated by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged misappropriation of N12 billion. Olafemi was the former acting governor of the state.
Daily Trust gathered from reliable sources that the other five top officials who were quizzed include the Accountant General, Mr. Ubolo Okpanachi, Commissioner for Finance Mr. Abiodun Ojo, Head of Service Chief Isah Idachaba, Secretary to the State Government Malam Ahmadu Musa and the Commissioner for Works, Abdulkareem Abubakar.
Sources at the Commission said the six Kogi officials were questioned over their role in the alleged misappropriation of the by the state administration headed by Governor Ibrahim Idris. According to the sources, they were quizzed until about 4pm yesterday day. Daily Trust also learnt that all the 6 officials will be not allowed to return to resume their normal duties soon as investigations were still ongoing. EFCC spokesperson Femi Babafemi confirmed that an invitation was extended to the 6 Kogi officials but could not say for what reason they were being interrogated. He said, "I can only confirm that some Kogi State Government officials have been invited by the commission."
The EFCC investigation on activities of the Kogi State government is said to have been engineered by the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), which sent a petition alleging various corrupt practices. The petition accused the Idris administration of tampering with local government funds, inflating contracts as well as outright looting of public funds totaling N12 billion.
Daily Trust however gathered in Lokoja that the Secretary to the State Government reported at work in the morning, but left a short while after. One of his aides said, "He said he got an invitation and just left. We have not seen him since then."
Another aide to the Commissioner for Finance, Yomi Amuda told Daily Trust that "the EFCC has been inviting him. He was also invited today. I can tell you he has been invited by the EFCC three times this year." When Daily Trust visited the office of the Commissioner for Works, Abdulkareem Abubakar it was discovered that he did not report to work yesterday.
When Daily Trust contacted the Commissioner for Information, Tom Ohikere for his comments, he promised to call back, but did not do so.
Even before EFCC waded into the matter, the Independent Corrupt Practises and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had invited the state's 21 local government chairmen to its headquarters in Abuja, in batches, to verify the claim of the petitioners that the State Government illegally deducted their allocations. They were also invited to show proof of how much they got from the State Government monthly.
A source close to the Investigation Unit told Daily Trust that "the petition had stated that the amounts disbursed to the local government councils were far less than what they should receive monthly. The petition alleged that the deductions were made without regard for the law and what they get is not enough to undertake any projects after salaries are paid."
According to the ICPC source, "What we wanted to know from the council chairmen is how much they have been getting from the state government. We asked them to bring all the documents to back up the claims, a directive which all of them have complied with."
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