Our officials not quizzed by EFCC, says Ondo govt

From Osagie Otabor, Akure 

Ondo State Government has dismissed report that its officials were quizzed by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the N4.3billion hidden fund.

It described the report as fake news and a hoax.

The N4.3billion, which was discovered to have been kept in a bank account for over 10 years, was retrieved and spent in the 2019 fiscal year.

A report in one of the national newspapers (not The Nation), claimed that Finance Commissioner Wale Akinterinwa and Accountant-General Laolu Akindolie were quizzed by the EFCC over the N4.3billion.

Information and Orientation Commissioner Donald Ojogo, in a statement, said the report was mischievous.

He said it was a gross display of mischief and an abysmal display of ignorance by those who initiated and disseminated it.

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EFCC Head of Media and Publicity Mr. Dele Oyewale, who spoke in Akure on the phone, said no EFCC operative was in Ondo State to quiz any government official.

Accountant-General Akindolie has denied allegations that he is loyal to Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi.

He also dismissed reports that he paid the deputy governor’s firm, ITDC, N700 million and refused to pay less than N200 million of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) fund for projects.

Akindolie was caught in the web of political differences between Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and his deputy, as a group, the Ondo Southern Solidary Front (OSSF), warned Akeredolu of plot by Akindolie to destabilise activities of his administration.

But Akindolie said he was not sabotaging Governor Akeredolu’s efforts in the MDAs towards effective governance.

He said mischief makers want to create discord between his office and the state government, adding that he remained committed to the ethics of his profession and the success of the government through proper discharge of his duties.

Akindolie urged the public to be wary of mischief makers, who he said were on a mission to derail good governance.