…Calls for the immediate arrest of the culprits
The Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEO) has raised a fresh alarm by giving the details on how the State governor, Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola in collaboration with his, aides, the Local government Executive Secretaries and other local
government career officers defrauded the State to the tune of billions of naira and as well as run the State into the bankruptcy.
The group however alleged that the immediate past Commissioners of Finance, Dr Wale Bolorunduro, Special duties and Regional Integration, Mr. Ajibola Bashiru, and Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Kolapo Alimi with their Permanent Secretaries, Aregbesola’s former Special Advisers on Works,Mr Sabitu Oladepo Amuda and Environment,
Mr. Bola Ilori, and all the thirty local government Executive Secretaries with their Heads of Local Government Administration(HLAs) and Directors of Finance(DFs), were collaborators of Mr. Aregbesola in defrauding Osun people of their meager resources through the phantom
projects.
Addressing the Journalists and members of the Coalition who gathered at the Ikoyi,Lagos State annex office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday, after submitting the Seven(7) pages petition letter with the series of evidences attached to it,
to prove the alleged financial improprieties against the State government under the watch of Mr. Rauf Aregbesola beyond reasonable doubt, the CSCEO’s Chairman,Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman who led the team, alleged Aregbesola with his collaborators of committing the
various degree of financial blunders, ranging from inflation of contracts sum, duplication of contracts sum, engage in moribund projects, money laundering, among others, with the sole aim of siphoning the State resources into the private pocket of certain individuals, including Aregbesola’s son, Kabiru .
Comrade Sulaiman further alleged that Aregbesola began his fraudulent activities with the criminal and satanic increment of State wage bill of workers, retirees and political office holders alike from N1.3 billion to N3.6 billion ,when no fewer than five(5) thousand workers retired voluntarily from the service of the State government in December 2012,as a result of the Pension Contributory Scheme policy of the Federal government ,maintaining that Aregbesola like now, did not also constitute the members of his cabinet for period of eleven months, but still claiming the same amount of wage bill in the period.
Meanwhile, the submission of the petition which attracted a mini rally tagged “Anti-Corruption rally against deceitful Osun State government under the watch of Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola in commemoration of six years remembrance of Legal luminary and incorruptible human
rights activist, Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi, SAM, SAN”, which the members of the “Coalition” carried placards with different inscriptions such as; “Aregbesola Ole! Ole!! Ole!!!, EFCC: investigate Aregbesola and his cohorts now, EFCC/Lamorde: Don’t be a toothless
bulldog, do your constitutional job now, Osun:Bola Tinubu,tells Aregbesola to bring back our money and Lamorde; treat Osun petitions as a matter of urgency now and don’t destroy your carrier for OSRAP largesse”, where a minute silence was observed for the repose of the
Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, whom they described as a man of honour and integrity while living on earth.
The group therefore, called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conduct proper, thorough and credible investigation into the alleged financial misconduct of Aregbesola’s government from November 2010 to August, 2015 and as well as forensic
audit of the Osun State government Account books.
The petition reads in part: “The Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS) writes this petition to ensure that the sanctity of truth and rule of law that will bring egalitarian society in allocation of meager resources accrued to the State from the Federation Account as enshrined in the amended 1999 Constitution for the purpose of promoting good government and welfare of all persons in our country on the principles of Freedom, Equality and Justice and for the purpose of consolidating the Unity of our people. It is against this background that CSCEO brings to your notice for proper and credible investigation and immediate prosecution of the culprits in the criminal mismanagement of funds under the watch of Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola with his criminal-in-aides, including, all thirty the (30) Executives Secretaries of the Local governments in the State and immediate past aides of Mr. Aregbesola, particularly, Dr Wale Bolorunduro (Commissioner for Finance), Mr. Bola Ilori(S.A. on
Environment), Sabitu Amuda Oladepo (SA on Works), Mr. Ajibola Basiru (Commissioner for Special Duties), Mr. Kolapo Alimi (Commissioner for Local Government) and Permanent Secretaries of Ministry of Finance and Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
“The private investigation conducted by the members of our COALITION revealed that the average monthly earnings of the State between the year 2007 and November 2010 was N1,969,622,514.25, while the average monthly earning income of the State between the years January 2011 to December 2014 was at N3,050,074,327,25 and these figures represents
Osun earnings from the Federation Account alone and does not include that of Excess Crude Oil fund:N61.7 billion, SURE-P: N14.4billion,Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC)
Fund:N13.9billion, Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) fund:
N43.6billion, Value Added Tax(VAT): N? Ecological Fund: N? and
Millennium Development Goals fund: N? (All for the period of 2011-2014
courtesy of budgIT, oagf and fmf).
“Meanwhile, it is on record in the State that since November 2010 till date, all the revenues accruing to the thirty (30) Local governments across Osun State within the period under review were equivalent to that of the State allocation from the Federation Account and this has
also been controlled, managed and disbursed by the Almighty Governor Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola.Upon all these gargantuan allocations accrued to the State from the Federation Account to the tune of over Five hundred billion naira (N500billion), Mr. Aregbesola still plunged the State into debt regime to the tune of over five hundred billion naira (N500billion), all in the name of infrastructural development that had since been abandoned. Today, our State is being referred to as a Debtor State. The accumulated loans were obtained from Infrastructural
Bank, Commercial Banks, Bond from Stock Exchange, Sukuk bond and a host of others all in the name of one project or the others that are not feasible and as well become moribund in the State”.
CSCEO further demanded as follows:” That all those whose names are mentioned aside Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, in this petition for one criminal allegation or the others should be invited by EFCC for interrogation to confess their roles in the aforementioned financial crimes of crude
mismanagement of the financial resources accrued to our State from the Federation Account, bonds, Infrastructural Bank and commercial banks and make the outcome of their investigation public on the alleged corrupt practices of the State government which lead to the criminal
misappropriation of the State resources.
“ That the Commission’s intelligent department should begin the thorough investigation of some companies in Lagos State that are importing goods and services and raw materials to the country and as well get their financial process from the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN)
through which Mr. Rauf Aregbesola and his cronies are laundering our State resources into foreign accounts abroad. The Commission should commence the credible investigation and forensic audit of the account books of the thirty (30) and Ife-East area office of the State and
also, investigate the role of the Executive Secretaries, Head of Local Government Administration (HLA) and Director of Finances of all the local government areas of the State for doctoring of all the account books of the council areas through a circular date June 26th, 2015 and signed for the Permanent Secretaries by one Mr. S.A.Oyefade.
“That the Commission should begin the immediate probing of all the loans accessed for all the abandoned projects like; Gbongan-Akoda road, Old-Garage –Ikirun- Konta- Kwara boundary road, Classroom buildings, Moshood Abiola Airport and Dagbolu International Market,
among other abandoned projects in the State by the present administration of Aregbesola.The Commission should investigate all the loans obtained from Commercial banks in the country, if the purpose of which the loan obtained for were met or not and the total amount of the loan obtained by Mr. Rauf Aregbesola in each commercial bank should be made public.
“CSCEO believed that Mr. Rauf Aregbesola is covered from prosecution by Section 308 of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria but not from investigation as being ruled by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in a case of Certificate forgery and perjury
between Gani Fawehinmi vs Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Inspector General of Police (IGP) and ors.The Commission should try as much as possible, within the ambit of its mandate to investigate how all these funds such as Sure-P fund, SUBEB fund, Ecological fund, Excess Crude Oil
fund, Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) fund, State and local government funds from the Federation Account, Constituencies allowances of Federal lawmakers, Pension Contributory Fund, unremitted Cooperative loan deduction of workers, SUKUK bond, Infrastructural Bank and Commercial banks debt and lately, Nigeria Natural Liquid Gas (NNLG) fund, accrued to the State from November 2010 till August 30th,2015 were expended.
“The Commission in collaboration with appropriate authority, now, should be properly monitoring the movement of Rauf Aregbesola’s Helicopter from Government House, Osogbo to any part of the country. The State government under Rauf Aregbesola procured the Helicopter to ferry our commonwealth out of the State to beat the security apparatus on the land, to Lagos State. We have every authority to say that Aregbesola has used the said Helicopter to transfer raw cash of naira from Osun State to Lagos State”.
The group then urged the EFCC to do justice to the every petition received from Nigerian people, particularly, on Rauf Aregbesola’s administration, in line with the part VII (38)(1) of EFCC
act-2004,Terrorism and amended Laundering acts(2011),Criminal code(cap ‘C38’) of EFCC with cases and materials, Extras of ICPC &Money Laundering act 2010,law of the federation, Criminal code law with questions and answers for Police College, Freedom of Information Act 2011,the amended National Human Rights Commission Act 2010 ,and the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, believing that the anti-graft body should be impartial and uphold the truth always in dealing with all stakeholders in the country, in order to stamp out the menace of corruption in our land as being the stance of the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.