Transition: Govt Operations Crippled in Edo as EFCC Arrests Accountant General, Two Others Over Huge Last-minute Withdrawals From 13% Derivation Fund

Follow

( 0 Followers )

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

With barely 10 days to hand over of power to a new administration by Governor Godwin Obaseki, the activities of the Edo State government was on Thursday paralysed following the arrest of key signatories to the state’s accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Though there had been no official statement from the anti-graft agency to this effect, unimpeachable sources within the agency hinted TELL that three top officials were arrested, including the Accountant General of the state, Julius Osemen Anelu, and are in the custody of the Benin zonal office.

Investigation by the magazine revealed that that Governor Obaseki had been under the EFCC radar since 2022 when it started investigating his financial dealings. It was gathered that there were two cases for which the outgoing governor was being discreetly investigated. The source was however not forthcoming with details of these cases.

However, volunteering information on Friday’s arrests, he explained that “What prompted the arrest of the Accountant General, and two others was that about a week ago, the state collected ₦24.6 billion from the Federation Account as 13 percent derivation fund and within one week, the money had been depleted to ₦13 billion unknown to them that we were monitoring outflow of monies from the state’s accounts.
“So, in an attempt to stop further drain of the funds, we had to move quickly by arresting the Accountant General so that the incoming government can at least have some money to take off because it’s like the plan is to syphon the whole money. So, the officials are with us; the Accountant General and two others”.

It was learnt that the detained officials may not be released until after the inauguration of Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All-Progressives Congress, (APC), on November 12 when Governor Obaseki of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP)would hand over.

Meanwhile, the arrest of the Accountant General and two of his subordinates is expected to have dire consequences on the winding down of the outgoing government as hopes of contractors, consultants, and others who had transacted businesses with the government and had approvals for payments had been dashed, while payment of emoluments due to civil servants, pensioners, and other public servants would also be stalled thus rendering the state comatose.

Other statutory payments that would be affected include security releases and other obligations that would keep the ship of state smooth sailing.

Attempts by the magazine to confirm the development was unsuccessful as neither the spokesman of the EFCC in the Benin Zonal office, Williams Oseghale, and his counterpart at the national headquarters, Dele Oyewale, was available for comment.