N20bn bailout: Kogi has facts to refute EFCC’s allegations, Commissioner says
Kogi state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, has said that the state government has facts to refute the allegations the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had levelled against it.
The commissioner disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists, stating that the Kogi government would prepare a comprehensive response to the latest of what it called “the desperate moves by the commission”.
The commissioner was responding to a statement issued by the EFCC on Friday where it alleged that the state government had kept N20 billion bailout fund meant to pay workers’ salaries in a commercial bank in order to yield interest.
Fanwo said that EFCC’s move was only a way to save its face in view of what it called its “unethical conduct in the matter in dispute”.
“It is laughable the EFCC’s attempt to desperately wriggle out of a bad case with another mischief aimed, again, at misleading Nigerians.
“The EFCC had finally exposed the fact that it had been pursuing a political agenda all along.
“The press statement by the commission is a malicious attempt to rope the state into a matter that ordinarily has nothing to do with our dear state.
“We maintain the unassailable truth that the Kogi State Government did not operate such account with the Sterling Bank as affirmed in a letter by the bank.
“We sympathise with the EFCC as it has been a herculean task to cover the initial misinformation and deliberate deceit by the commission,” the statement added.
Fanwo stressed that the Kogi government would react to the latest EFCC statement comprehensively, noting that “every option that is legal will be considered to maintain the innocence and transparency of our government.”
It will be recalled that on August 31, the EFCC in a submission before a Lagos High Court alleged that the Kogi state government kept a N20 billion loan meant for payment of salaries to yield interest at the Sterling Bank.
The Kogi government, in its reaction, presented documents to show that the state did not operate any such account with the bank.
NAN
