Twelve days to the change of government in Edo State, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reportedly arrested all signatories to the Edo State government accounts.
A source close to the EFCC, confirmed the arrest of the officials on Friday night.
The source told reporters that the commission had been investigating Obaseki’s government “long before now.”
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He said: “But, about two weeks ago, the state government collected N24.6billion as derivation fund. You can’t believe that between last week and this week, they have drawn that money down to N14billion.
“They’ve spent over N10billion. Those officials are in custody to save the coffers of that state,” the EFCC source said.
Saturday Tribune gathered that the move was to stop the outgoing government of Governor Godwin Obaseki from having access to the balance in the accounts of the state government till the handover of power on November 12 to the in-coming administration of Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in the state.
Sources within the EFCC and the office of the Accountant General of Edo State, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that three Edo State government officials among whom was the Accountant General, Julius Anelu, were picked up on Thursday evening and taken to the Benin office of the anti-graft agency.
The arrested government officials were said to have been invited for a briefing and were subsequently detained.
With the arrest, the source disclosed that government activities had been halted in the state, as the state government would not be able to access any government funds as the signatories to various government accounts were affected by the arrest.
The state government, the sources added, would not be able to pay emoluments due to civil servants, pensioners and other public servants. Other statutory payments such as security bills and other obligations are also affected.
Saturday Tribune also gathered that the arrested officials might be kept in custody till November 12, the day of the termination of the tenure of the outgoing government.
When contacted for confirmation, EFCC spokesman in Edo State, Williams Oseghale, simply directed our reporter to the Commission’s spokesman, Dele Oyewale.
When contacted on the telephone, Oyewale replied through a Short Messaging Service (SMS), asking our correspondent to send a text message.
Saturday Tribune sent messages to both Oyewale’s WhatsApp numbers and his regular phone SMS platform for the confirmation of the information.
As of the time of filling this report, Oyewale was yet to respond.
Tribune
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