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Alleged N1bn unsecured loan: EFCC releases Ondo accountant-general |
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Written by DAYO JOHNSON
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Sunday, 28 September 2008 |
•Govt fingers opposition
THE Accountant General of Ondo State Mrs. Folake Ogunnika who was arrested last Thursday by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been released. The agency had also invited the Commissioner for Finance, Chief Tayo Alasoadura and four directors from the ministry over the N1b unsecured loan about to be given to political appointees in the state.
Director, media and publicity of the Commission, Mr. Femi Babafemi said Ogunnika was given administrative bail Friday night. But the state government weekend denied that Ogunnika was arrested but was only invited for questioning over a petition by an opposition party in the state.
She was picked up following a petition by the opposition party in the state over the unsecured loan that was about to be given to political office holders in the state. If the Accountant -General had not been arrested by the commission, the loan would have been given out to political office holders on Friday.
Dependable sources hinted that Ogunnika arrived Akure late on Friday after she reportedly satisfied the EFCC operatives on the questions put to her on the petition. Reacting to the invitation of the Ondo State government officials by the anti graft agency, the Chief of Staff to the governor, COS, Femi Agagu said it was the handiwork of the opposition.
Agagu said that the loan had been approved by the lawmakers in the state and wondered why the opposition party was making noise about it. The COS added that the Labour Party governorship candidate, Dr Olusegun Mimiko while he was in the PDP benefited from the same loan "that he now wants to deprive political appointees in the state from receiving".
Agagu said that "the fact that the two anti-graft bodies have visited the state many times and not one case of fraud has been established shows that we have nothing to hide and that the opposition is just heating up the polity in the state."
According to him, the invitation of the government officials by the agencies "is a routine and administrative procedure and nothing serious." He said the accountant-general of the state was only invited to make clarifications on the loan to political appointees and was not arrested as reported by the media
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