Olayiwola Matthew
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested the Accountant General of Edo State, Julius Anelu, and two other government officials.
Anelu and other officials who were in the custody of the commission as of the time of filing this report (7:30 pm) on Friday were arrested for alleged withdrawals of huge sums of money from the state’s account.
According to an impeccable source in the EFCC, out of N24.6bn paid into the government’s account, about N14bn was left within one week after the money was deposited some weeks back.
The source added that the EFCC acted to save the state and not to ground its activities as being peddled.
“We made some arrests of about two to three persons, including the Accountant General of the state. We have been investigating the governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki, since 2022 but this latest arrest was as a result of some withdrawals from the state’s derivation account.
“The amounts withdrawn were huge sums. For instance, about some weeks ago, N N24.6bn was paid into that account. But in less than one week, about N14bn was remaining in the account. To save the state, we had to quickly move. We are not in any way doing that to ground the state activities”, said the source.
Efforts to get the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, proved abortive as calls to his line were not answered.
He has yet to respond to a message sent to him on the matter.
Recall that Edo State governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo, had accused the Obaseki administration ‘of last-minute borrowings and looting.’
In a statement he issued on October 16, Okpebholo, called on relevant authorities including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, police and Department of State Services to investigate the allegations.
The commissioner, who gave the names of the suspects as Nosakhare Umuwagbe,34, and Frank Abumere, 35, said they were pursued and apprehended by the operatives.
He added that during a search conducted in their houses, two pump-action guns with twelve live cartridges were recovered.
Ozigi, who said the suspects confessed to being members of the Aiye cult group, added that they would be charged in court after the investigation.