The Edo State government has expressed surprise over arrest and detention of some government officials, including the State’s Accountant-General, Julius Anelu, by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
The State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, confirmed the arrest and detention of the five officials by EFCC on Saturday.
The Commissioner who alleged Anelu and four others invited last Thursday by EFCC over already repaid government loan facility,
demanded the release of the officials.
He revealed that EFCC had in a letter dated October 28, 2024, invited four officials from the Edo State Treasury Office, including the Accountant General, Julius Anelu, to its Benin office.
According to him, “The letter of invitation, addressed to the Secretary to the State Government and titled “Loans and Agricultural Interventions Granted to Edo State Government from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) from 2018 to date,” pertains to an agricultural facility that has since been repaid by the State Government”.
He also explained that “The government officers, including the State Accountant on Thursday, honoured the invitation as requested at the Benin Office of the EFCC to provide necessary answers as required by the EFCC.
Nehikhare stated however that upon realizing that one of the invited officials was no longer a signatory to the government account, the EFCC released the officer and requested for the current signatory, whose name was not initially on the invitation letter.
The said officer is now also being detained by the agency at Abuja , in addition to the others who were originally invited and honoured the invitation”, according to the Commissioner,
who expressed concern that the EFCC action could cripple governance in Edo State.
TheNewspad reports that the EFCC is yet to react to the government statement as at the time of filing this report, few days to the handing over of government by the outgoing Governor Godwin Obaseki to his successor, Senator Monday Okpebholo on November 12th 2024.
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