The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested some senior members of the Kwara State Government for allegedly withdrawing N1 billion one week to the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 23.
A statement from the financial crimes body disclosed that operatives of its Ilorin zonal office on Thursday discovered about N1 billion cash withdrawal by the Kwara State Government, a week to the last presidential and National Assembly elections.
According to the statement, investigations carried out by the commission’s operatives revealed that the money was withdrawn from the state’s Sterling Bank Account.
Those arrested, who are also already being interrogated over the alleged withdrawal are the Commissioner for Finance, Nurudeen Banu; Commissioner for Water Resources, Yusuf Abdulkadir, Special Adviser Commissioner for Energy, Eleja Taiwo Banu; Accountant General, Sulaiman Ishola; Head of Service, Susan Modupe Oluwole; Chief of Staff, Abdulwahab Yusuf; officials of the Secretary to the State Government, and those of the Government House.
Operatives of the EFCC had launched an investigation into the withdrawals following a petition by a Non-Governmental Organisation, the Kwara Coalition for Good Governance and Accountability, asking for the probe of over N1bn loan that the State Government secured from a bank a few days before the general elections.
Secretary General of the organisation, Hassan Omoiya, in the petition noted that intelligence had it that the state government obtained the loan on February 13 from a bank, using the remittance of Kwara State VAT allocation due in February and March 2019 as collateral.
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It was gathered that an official of the State Government, Hafees Yusuf, confirmed to the operatives that he got instructions from his boss to withdraw some monies sometime in February 2019.
“My Controller of Finance told me that the sum of N350m was paid into the account of Kwara State Government, and I was instructed by my boss to raise cheques of various sums of monies, which I did and were duly signed by the Controller of Finance. I withdrew the monies as I was instructed by my supervisor.
Also, an employee of Sterling Bank, who is currently being interrogated by EFCC operatives, disclosed that the Accountant General, Commissioner for Finance and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, were signatories to the account where N720m cash was withdrawn from the Kwara State Government Account domiciled in the branch of the bank located at Post Office in Ilorin, between February 7 and 11, 2019.
According to the EFCC, three Relationship Managers of the bank – Rahaman Alimi, Akinleye Ademola and Olarewaju Sarafa, were said to be the ones who packed the said money in bullion vans and personally delivered it to the Chief of Staff to the Kwara State Governor, Abdulwahab Yusuf.
Meanwhile, the EFCC Spokesman, Tony Orilade said the officials of the Kwara State Government have been granted administrative bail and are to be arraigned before a Federal High Court in Ilorin next week.
