Alleged N300m LG Fraud; One month after, Kwara Gov yet to officially write EFCC for probe

By Mumini AbdulKareem
The Kwara State command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has again reiterated that it was yet to receive any official notification from the state government to probe the alleged illegal withdrawal of about N3000m of the local government funds.
This is coming after about one month since the Governor publicly invited the EFCC to carry out the probe, a move that has been criticised by the opposition some of whom described it as sending out an audio invitation without substance to divert attention after the huge backlash that trailed the issue.
In a telephone chat with National Pilot weekend, the spokesperson of the anti-graft commission in Ilorin, Gbenga Adewoye maintained that the commission was to receive any official invitation from the Governor reading the issue.
“I am not sure there has been any official communication up till not. But I will inform you if there is any when I get to the office on Monday, he submitted.
Efforts to get the Commissioner for Communication, Mrs Adenike Afolabi-Oshatimehin on the issue was not successful last night. Numerous calls to her line last night were not answered. Reply to a text message sent to her was still been awaited at the time of filling this report last night.
But in his reaction, a Kwara-based public commentator and member of a civil right group, Shola Muse described the action of the governor as propagandist adding that EFCC officials should have been invited after the government concluded its internal probe and people have been found guilty of any offence.
“You cannot invite EFCC at this stage of the probe except when you discover that something is fishing. It’s after the whole issue and you found out that there is Pandora Box, you can now refer to EFCC. It’s like taking harmer to kill ant now. That statement of the government inviting the EFCC sounds propagandist. EFCC has not even spoken and you said you invite them but rather the EFCC is saying they have not gotten any invitation letter. I am not being antagonistic, I am being fair and I want decency in any thing I do. We should so something that will attract public confidence. You must have completed you internal investigation and get people invited before calling the EFCC”, he noted.
On the independent investigative panel set up by the government to probe council fund, Muse who is the Kwara State coordinator of Good Governance and Local Government Autonomy said although the move may be seen as a form of transparent move to let Kwarans know how council funds is being spent, there is a lacuna by not involving any member of the civil right organisation in the state as part of the committee.
“It like the governor is soliloquising, that is talking to himself. Setting up a panel like this, the composition matters. These are the people that my even be manipulated or even say they want to give a dog another bad name. But when you have the CSOs in the committee, there will transparency and it will build public confidence in such a committee.
“If such a panel is to be constituted, it should involved people that will give the society the feedback who are neither appointees of the government because the exercise is for the public interest. Kwara Public now have confidence in the CSOs in the state because we see everything with transparency lens and we can be critical of the government where they erred. Maybe because the government feel that we cannot be manipulated or uncompromising.
“Transparency and accountability is germane to democracy and if things are not done properly, this people (committee members) are manipulateable”, he added.
Also, the chairman of the Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Engr Kola Shittu said the situation is not good enough whereby the Governor after the public pronouncement is yet to get in touch with the EFCC on the matter.
The correct thing to be done is for the EFCC and other security agencies saddled with investigation to investigate the matter because we learnt that the governor has set up a committee of government officials to investigate which is like being a judge in your own court”, he added.