Osun govt speaks on EFCC’s invitation to fake crusaders

– Osun state government has described the invitation extended to a group by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as a move the will put an end to frivolous petitions in Nigeria –  A group had claimed that the governor suspended democratic structure in the councils and had mismanaged funds allocated to them

The Osun state government has described the invitation extended to a group by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as a move the will put an end to frivolous petitions in Nigeria. Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun had petition the EFCC alleging diversion of funds belonging to the local governments in the state by governor Rauf Aregbesola. The state said the group is fake and paid agents of destabilization. Semiu Okanlawon, the media aide to governor Aregbesola said the self-appointed civil society group is a group that had been making bogus claims against Governor Aregbesola and his government without producing evidence to substantiate any of the allegations. “For instance, this was the group that accused Governor Aregbesola of embezzling the N34.988bn bailout loan obtained last year as part of the Federal Government’s intervention to assist states meet their salary obligations,” he said. He added that the same group had accused governor Aregbesola of borrowing over N750 billion, which, according to it, has not impacted on the socio-economic lives of the people of Osun. The government had also been accused of planning a mass sack of civil servants in the state especially in the wake of the challenges to meet salary obligations by the state.

“It is instructive that none of these allegations and others from this same group has been proved to be true. We must remind Nigerians lest they take this group serious at all that Mr. Sulaiman Adeniyi who claims to be the leader of the group and Seun Adeoye, have been no more than two hired hands of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun and its allied opposition elements. “It is pertinent to state that the so-called civil society group is a contraption hurriedly put together by Adeniyi and Adeoye to push the dubious agenda of their sponsors, the humiliated governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Senator Iyiola Omisore and Mr. Segun Akinwusi respectively to blackmail Governor Aregbesola and his government. “When all their antics against the Aregbesola government failed, Nigerians must recall how these characters procured the services of a High Court Judge to write a petition with all forms of spurious allegations which she equally failed to defend. “It is on record that when the EFCC and the Osun State House of Assembly invited Justice Folahanmi Oloyede to defend the claims in her petition, she developed cold feet,” the aide said. Speaking further, Mr Okanlawo said all the allegations leveled against Aregbesola are the same as those allegations made by Omisore, Akinwusi and Justice Oloyede, noting that it is clear that the motive of these is to set the state on fire by misinforming the people. “This is a welcome development as perhaps this will put an end to frivolous activities of the likes of hired groups like this and their cohorts in the trade of making allegations that they cannot substantiate.

“The Osun example in local government funds administration is a study in transparency and accountability. Perhaps, it is only in Osun that the governor introduced Heads of Local Government Administrations, HLAs, to the monthly allocation meetings. The HLAs have full knowledge of how much is received and other allied information. A governor with a plan to divert council funds would not bring such a novel addition to the way funds are administered.”