The Ogun State government, on Saturday has revealed why some of their officials were invited and quizzed by the Ibadan Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday.
The state government maintained that the invitation was not connected to a petition allegedly filed by Wale Adedayo, a former Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, who was removed from office over allegations of financial misappropriation.
This was in contrary to claims made by certain media outlets, the officials were not summoned over any alleged diversion of local government funds.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the State Governor, Hon. Kayode Akinmade.
Akinmade stated that the government officials were not presented with any petition from Adedayo, saying, “The EFCC, being a responsible body, would have provided them with the petition if it were truly the basis for their invitation.”
The statement further read, “Ordinarily, there would be no reason to respond to the antics of a known provocateur and rabble-rouser, who has made salacious, evidence-free allegations against Governor Dapo Abiodun and his administration, with the intent to sow discord among the people and destabilise Ogun State.
“While we continue to respect media organisations as partners in progress, we categorically state that the report in question is nothing but fake news and should be disregarded.
“As with officials from other state governments, Ogun State officials are not exempt from invitations by anti-graft agencies if clarification on any matter is needed. It is reassuring that the EFCC confirmed our officials, as law-abiding citizens, honoured the invitation and have since returned to their duties.
“It is, however, a complete fabrication to claim that they were invited due to a petition by Wale Adedayo.”
The Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, confirmed this development in a phone conversation with our correspondent on Wednesday.
Oyewale said, “I just called our Ibadan Zonal office and it was confirmed that some officials of the state government were invited for a chat in respect of an ongoing investigation and they have since returned to their state. Nobody was also detained.”
Adedayo, however, claimed that the invitation was in connection with the petition sent to the EFCC regarding allegations of the diversion of about N10.8 billion meant for the development of the 20 local governments.
He said, “Yes, I heard about it on Tuesday. I am sure it is about the petition I sent to the EFCC. Lies can travel a thousand miles, but the truth will catch up with them within a few seconds.”
