Bailout: Ekiti APC puts EFCC, ICPC on notice

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offices Commission (ICPC) to monitor how the Ekiti State share of the bailout funds is expended.

The Publicity Secretary of APC in the state, Taiwo Olatunbosun, in a statement on Thursday tasked Governor Ayo Fayose to make judicious use of the bail-out loans being facilitated by the Federal Government.

The party said the call became imperative following the alleged misapplication of the balance of the N4billion bond taken by former Governor Adeniyi Adebayo, which was allegedly diverted in 2004 to other purposes different from the terms of the agreement.

Olatunbosun explained that Ekiti people would want the governor to spend the loans for salary and other debts owed civil servants and former political office holders.
He said the disbursements and spending of the loans would be monitored to ensure compliance with the terms of borrowing to curb diversion.

Olatunbosun said: “Knowing the kind of man the governor is in money matters, we hereby put the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) on notice to monitor disbursements and appropriation of the loan cash to ensure that the money does not end up in private pockets.

“Our concern is premised on the alarms Governor Fayose has been raising on the status of the state’s debts, particularly his condemnation of the Federal Government’s bail-out initiative, which he dismissed as not a bail-out but a statutory allocation.

“It is gratifying that the Federal Government again made available N9.6billion to the state to offset salaries, allowances and other emoluments owed civil servants, pensioners and former political appointees, but we have our reservations on the governor’s new move to access another N10billion to be repaid in 10 years.

“Our reservations is premised on the evidence that the governor has no developmental blueprint he put before Ekiti people during campaigns, fueling fears that the loan may end up like that of 2005 bond cash, which Fayose misappropriated in his N1.3billion fraudulent poultry project that was never in his developmental blueprint.”