By Tosin Olatokunbo
The Oyo State government is preparing for the worst in the ongoing corruption investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC following suggestion that the agency has decided to extend its dragnet to top officials of the Governor Seyi Makinde administration.
The Abdulrasheed Bawa-led agency had last Tuesday arrested the Accountant General of the state, Gafar Bello, over an alleged N9billion deal.
EFCC had earlier arrested the attorney general and commissioner for Justice over allegations of corruption. The arrest of the state officials was not unconnected with the investigation of Governor Makinde’s government regarding the security votes that have accrued to his government since he came to power in 2019.
The development comes on the crest of a suit filed at the Federal High court, Lagos by the socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP demanding for an order of mandamus to compel President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate allegations of mismanagement of security votes by state governors since 1999.
SERAP condemned the “pervasive tendency by public officers since 1999 to regard or treat security votes given to them for the security of the state as their entitlement or funds is antithetical to the Nigerian Constitution and international standards.
“Security votes should be used for improving the security situation in the states or returned to the public treasury.
“Longstanding allegations of mismanagement of security votes have hugely contributed to the growing insecurity in the country, and the failure to ensure the security and welfare of Nigerians.
“As revealed by a recent report by Transparency International (TI), most of the funds appropriated as security votes are spent on political activities, mismanaged or simply stolen. It is estimated that security votes add up to over N241.2 billion every year”, the rights group said.
The magazine has now learnt that some top government officials have gone into hiding for fear that they may be arrested by EFCC operatives.
“There’s a big confusion in the government as nobody knows who among them will be the next to be arrested by EFCC. As a precaution, many government officials are no longer coming to office as they have decided to stay away for the main time until the dust is settled,” a civil servant who craved anonymity told the magazine on Wednesday.
Sources told the magazine that many officials that have disappeared are mostly of the state Ministry of Finance, apart from close aides of the governor who feared that they many be arrested and questioned by the commission.
Recall that the Social Party of Nigeria, SPN had last month claimed that Governor Makinde has nothing to show for the N1 billion monthly accruals to his government as Security Votes.
The party said in a statement that in spite of the huge votes, insecurity has pervaded the state as criminals have overwhelmed security agencies.
SPN said “as far as we are concerned in SPN the rising insecurity in the state is an indictment on Engr Seyi Makinde-led government in the sense that its monthly security vote which was alleged to have recently increased from N250 million earned during the late Senator Ajimobi-led administration to N1billion has failed to translate to any improvement in the security of life and property in the state.
“It has also shown that propaganda made by the regime over the procurement of vehicles for security agencies, the convocation of security summit including the establishment of Western Nigerian Security Network popularly called Amotekun operation is just a mere grandstanding as they have individually and collectively failed to uplift the security of lives and property of the working people in the state.
“In fact, the recent activities and operation of Amotekun operatives have recently turned out to be a threat to democratic rights and human dignity of the ordinary people including extortion, extra-judicial killing, within the short period of its existence”.
But responding to the issue on Wednesday, Governor Makinde said the commission is just trying to harass his government. The state has now dragged the EFCC to court over the investigation.
According to a statement by Wasiu Olatunbosun, the state Commissioner for Information said the matter will be settled in the court, adding that the EFCC must stop harassing state officials over a matter that is already in the court.
“The Oyo State Government is using this medium to update the good people of Oyo State regarding the arrest, questioning and detention of the Oyo State Accountant General on Friday, February 25, 2022, and subsequent release on Monday, February 28, 2022,” Olatunbosun said.
The state government further warned that “the continued harassment and intimidation of the Accountant General and other officials of the state government by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is totally unconstitutional and unacceptable and is being contested in a court of competent jurisdiction.
“The EFCC and its officials have, since last year been mounting pressure on Oyo State and its officials to provide documents regarding disbursements and expenditure of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, Contingencies Fund and Security Vote lawfully approved and passed into Appropriation Law of Oyo State by the Oyo State House of Assembly”.
The Makinde administration said it is only the state House of Assembly that is empowered by law to investigate any corruption in government, citing the Supreme Court earlier judgment on the matter.
“This is despite the fact that the Supreme Court of Nigeria has decided in a long line of cases that the EFCC lacks the powers to prosecute issues that are not corruption cases”.
“We would like to put it on record that by virtue of Section 128 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, unless and until the Oyo State House of Assembly reports or exposes any corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws within its legislative competence and in the disbursement or administration of funds appropriated by it to the Executive Governor of Oyo State and Commissioner for Finance, Section 6 (h) of the EFCC Establishment Act 2004 (as amended) cannot be triggered.
“The Oyo State House of Assembly has not made any such reports and thus the actions so far by the EFCC and the EFCC Chairman are unconstitutional and ultra-vires.
“In line with this conviction, the Oyo State Government had approached the Federal High Court, in the Ibadan Judicial Division on February 8, 2022, for declaratory reliefs and to among other things, issue an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendants (1. Attorney General of the Federation; 2. Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; 3. President of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria and 4. The Chairman of the EFCC, their functionaries or agencies or whosoever from interfering with the activities of any government officials in Oyo State (i.e. any public officer or functionary or officer or servant of the government of Oyo State) in the exercise of powers purported to be conferred by or under the provisions of the EFCC Act, 2004 with relation to the expenditure and or spending of the Oyo State Government or security votes as vested in the Governor of Oyo State.
“The EFCC had brazenly refused service of the processes at the Abuja Head Office for reasons unknown to the law but as of today, March 1, 2022, at the hearing in Ibadan, Hon Justice N. Agomoh directed the EFCC to accept service of the Oyo State Government originating processes and pending applications in the full glare of the Court.
“The Trial Judge also ordered that all forms of arrest and intimidation by the EFCC should cease. The case has been adjourned to March 9, 2022, for the hearing of all applications.”
It said the EFCC is desperate and its actions so far portend an attempt to subvert the law.
“The arrest of the Oyo State Accountant General on Friday, February 25, 2022, was a desperate and malicious attempt at thwarting a constitutional process that had already been instituted at the Federal High Court, Ibadan, with a hearing date of Monday, March 1, 2022.
“The Government of Oyo State refuses to be intimidated, cowed or distracted from its one goal of providing good governance’, the state government said.
