APC accuses Mimiko of diverting N1.5bn foreign grants

• It Is A Lie, Says Govt
The All Progressives Congress in Ondo State has accused Governor Olusegun Mimiko of planning to divert N1.5b in grants from foreign donors to phoney contracts.

The party in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Adesanya, in Akure, yesterday, said the money was the accumulated foreign grants to Ondo State Wealth Creation Agency (WECA), and Multilateral Relation Department.

“It has come to our knowledge, on good authority, that Ondo State government, two days ago, specifically January 4, 2017, took receipt of the N1.2 billion physical cash being amount deposited into the account of the Multilateral Relation Department of the Governor’s Office, as accumulated grants from foreign donors,” adding that, “Confirmed information also show that another sum of N385 million was credited to the account of the Wealth Creation Agency (WECA) of Ondo State.”

The APC said it was sad that unpatriotic and unscrupulous elements within the highest echelon of the outgoing government had activated nefarious plans to siphon the money into private accounts.

“To perfect this plan, arrangement had been made to transfer the N1.2 billion to WECA which has been designated as exit point for the monies.

“Already, high level civil servants in the two departments have been mobilised to begin processing of phoney contracts award papers to perfect the looting spree of the total sum of N1.585 billion.”

The party described the act as callous and sabotage by some individuals in government to steal public funds as valedictory gifts to themselves and warned civil servants of the consequences of such act.

“Ondo APC wishes to direct the attention of Gov. Olusegun Mimiko to this and to emphasise the need to arrest this heinous crime before it completely tarnishes him in the dying minutes of his tenure.

“We also wish to point out to the governor that all accusing fingers are pointing at him considering the fact that the two agencies are directly under his supervision.
Reacting to the allegation, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Kayode Akinmade, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the allegation was frivolous and false.

“The allegation is frivolous and falsehood and I challenge the party to provide facts on this allegation.

“APC will take over government in Ondo State on February 24, 2017 so they should wait till then. As at now, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko is the governor of Ondo State and he has the right to take decision(s) about the state.

“APC cannot tie the hands of the governor from performing his statutory functions,’’ Akinmade said.