N50mln fraud: Ogun’s former deputy speaker alleges signature forgery

The former deputy speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Oludare Kadiri, has alleged that his signature was forged to swindle the state assembly of about N50 million.

Mr. Kadiri said this during an interview with selected journalists in Abeokuta The lawmaker, who represents Ijebu North Constituency 2, was impeached last March over allegations of gross misconduct.

The ex-deputy speaker was also accused of insubordination to the Office of the Speaker, abuse of office, a threat to lives and properties, conduct likely to cause a breach of peace, and attempted murder, committed in his constituency.

But Mr. Kadiri explained that he was kicked out of office for asking for accountability of the finances of the House, being the Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Finance. He said that for raising questions, he was impeached and removed from all committees in the house.

Fielding questions from journalists, the ex-deputy speaker said, “I’m just coming back from abroad, I’ve been on medical leave for about two months. I was in bed when I saw a report online and attached to it is a document with my signature. Like two to three days later, I got a call from the EFCC asking me to come.

“I went there on Monday. They asked me one or two questions and they showed me my signature and asked if I was the one that sent it out. I said no. They asked me about the signature and I told them I don’t know anything about that signature and I didn’t collect any money.

“I was aware that the Speaker, being the leader of the house, should be able to explain things about the signature. That was all and they allowed me to go.

“I know the EFCC is investigating the House. I was impeached because I was asking questions, and I felt the speaker was not open about the accountability of the House. When I was the deputy speaker, I don’t know all about the finances of the House, the amount the executive was giving us. I don’t know about our running cost.

“How can I be the chairman of the committee who will sign a document to everyone that the money was spent in the judiciary and I don’t know anything about it? That led to the impeachment.

“He (the Speaker) removed me from all committees in the House. I don’t belong to any committee anymore. Yet, I didn’t talk.”

Mr Kadiri said he saw, at the EFCC office, bundles of documents with the signatures of many members of the House, adding that his own signature seen on the document was forged.

“What I saw online was just two documents. I saw bundles of documents at the EFCC office with my signature forged on them. A very big Ghana-must-go bag with my fake signatures and other members’ signatures.

“They claimed that I collected money like N2million, N400,000, N3million, N4million, N1million at different times in the last two years. They said I went to foreign training, I went for seminars, slept in hotels. Which foreign training? Since I came, I have never been to any training or seminar and I didn’t sign any document.

“The money they said I signed was an average of N50 million. It can’t be less than that for my own alone,” he said.

When asked who he suspects to have forged his signature, Mr. Kadiri said the speaker “should be able to explain.”

“The speaker should be able to answer the question because he is the chief officer of the house. Everything goes through him. So, it’s Mr. Speaker that I will allege, probably with some other people but I don’t know.

“He was the one that took the documents to EFCC, so he should be the one to tell us. That’s the question I want to ask when I go back to the office on Tuesday, who forged this signature? I will speak for myself, I don’t know about other people. EFCC said they will be calling others at the appropriate time.

“Normally our monthly maintenance allowance comes into our accounts. So, I can only be responsible for the money paid into my account. All the money being alleged was released in cash through the banks. So, the speaker should be able to explain how he was using my signature to go and collect money in the bank.”

Mr. Kadiri also denied that the former governor and senator representing Ogun central, Ibikunle Amosun, has been sponsoring him to destabilize the house. He told journalists that he saw Mr. Amosun last while the latter was still the governor of the state.

Suzan O/PremT