Alleged Vote-buying : EFCC allegedly invites, grills Gov  AbdulRazaq’s aide, Probes Kwara Agency’s disbursement of billions before polls 

The anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may have commenced investigation into the disbursement of funds by the Kwara State Social Investment Programne(KWASSIP) to many people in the state during the build up to the February 25 and March 18 polls which runs into billions of Naira and which the opposition alleged was a vote-buying scheme.

The main opposition party,  Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), National Pilot gathered, had petitioned the EFCC and other security agencies with evidence of how potential voters got money ranging between N20,000 and N50,000 without any application process, as normally expected.

Credible sources informed National Pilot that, following the petition by PDP, the anti-graft agency swung into action and started probing the books of KWASSIP.

“The federal agency is also seeking to probe how much was distributed in the past six months by the agency, how the money was distributed, who benefitted, what process was followed in selecting the beneficiaries and what process has been stipulated for potential beneficiaries and for disbursement of the funds in the social security agency’s operational guidelines”, a revealed.

The  source revealed further that the head of the agency, Quawiyy Cook-Olododo has been invited and grilled by the agency. However, the Abdulrazaq government is said to be making several moves to ensure the news of the investigation and the quizzing of Cook-Olododo were not made public.

“The government is personally pulling all levers and pressing all buttons to ensure the public is not in the know about the investigation and the interrogation of the head of KWASSIP. “

Another source said” He was invited and immediately after he got the invite, Abdulqawiyu ran to the governor to inform him, but the governor told him to go and and honour the invitation.  Abdulqawiyu then informed the governor that it was not about him Qawiyu but about the governor and that if they arrest him, the governor will definitely be dragged in too. That was how the governor started making calls to create a soft landing for him.

“Abdulqawiyu is a sharp guy. He ensured the governor approved in black and white the directives for the distribution of the funds. He did this to protect himself, in case problem arises in future over the disbursement. He believes with the evidence of the governor’s approval, the governor will have no choice but to stand by him if EFCC comes for him during the election. That guy is smart and he is way more than capable of defending himself”, the source said, adding that, Qawiyu, confident that he could defend himself, went to EFCC to answer their invitation.

“The governor”, the source further revealed, ” considered the development a personal crisis for him, and he is personally handling the issue to save Cook-Olododo and the agency. He has ensured the anti-graft agency did not give any hints out about the investigation to the public. He also quickly secured administrative bail for the young man, who is the son of his estranged political associate and House of Representatives member, Gani Cook-Olododo.

“Many believe that not only was the disbursement of the funds suspicious as it was handled like a mere dole-out of alms or inducement for voters, it did not follow due process while also raising the issue of accountability and transparency”, the source stated.

It will be recalled that on March 9, after the Presidential and National Assembly elections, the PDP had at a press conference raised the issue of rampant disbursement to individual’s account from KWASSIP and wondered why the government was doing that on the eve of elections, while stating that the motive was dubious.

The party warned all officials involved in the distribution of money to get ready to give an account of their roles. The government, however, dismissed the allegation of vote buying and said the money being doled out was a social intervention fund aimed at alleviating poverty and cushioning the effect of the spiraling inflation in the state.

When National Pilot contacted the spokesperson of the commission Zonal head office, Ilorin, Ayodele Babatunde, he said he was currently on leave that he was not aware of anything of such.

Several calls were put to the commission Zonal Commander,  Mr Michael Nzekwe, to get the clarification, but the calls were not picked.

Not giving up, our reporter,on Tuesday, visited the commission to meet the Commander,but this did not yield fruits as the Commander was said to be engaged in a zoom meeting . He was still unavailable until our reporter left the office at all around 5:30pm.

An SMS sent to him was not responded to as at the time of filing this report.

The SMS reads: ”Good evening sir, I’m Ahmed Ajikobi from National Pilot Newspaper, I came to your office,  waited for so long to see you. I was told that you were  on an online meeting.

Sir, there is a report circulating that the commission is investigating a kwara agency which was said to have led to the invitation of the Head of KWASSIP, Abdulqowiy Olododo to the commission over vote buying. Is it true as it was reported? Because we want to balance our story. Thank you, as I will be expecting your reply. Thank you, sir.”

Also, all moves to get the Chairman KWASSIP,  Abdulqowiy Cook-olododo to react also went in vain as he continuously busied the calls made by our reporter to his phone  and SMS sent to him at around 12:45 pm was not replied to as at the time of filing this report.

The message reads: ” Salam Alaikum sir, Ramadan Kareem. I am Ahmed Ajikobi from National Pilot Newspaper. I want to get your reaction to an issue your name  was mentioned in. Sir, there is a report circulating around that EFCC invited you over vote buying in the just concluded General Election. Please, what is your reaction to this? “

NationalPilot also reached out to the Senior Adviser to the governor on Political Communication, Bashir Adigun to get the reaction of the governor on the matter. Calls put to him,too were not answered.

Message sent to  his WhatsApp account around 9:21pm and 9:28 were not responded to as at the time of filing this report.

The message reads ” There is a report out there that, EFCC is investigating kwara agency KWASSIP. This has led to the invitation of the Head of the agency, Abdulqowiyu cook-olododo by the EFCC for vote buying. It was in that report that Abdulqowiyu informed His Excellency ,Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq of the invitation of the EFCC and impressed it on him  that the invitation is not about him alone but the governor too. It was gathered the report made governor to start pressing button which later yielded  to administrative bail for Abdulqowiyu cook-olododo. What is your reaction, sir?”.