Ondo government denies EFCC quizzed officials over N4.3 billion

– Anti-graft agency describes the report as ‘unprofessional’

Ondo State Government has described the reported interrogation of its officials in the Finance Ministry by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the missing N4.3 billion as a hoax.

In a statement made available to journalists in Akure yesterday by the state’s Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Donald Ojogo, the report was said to be merely mischievous.

Ojogo noted: “The report, in all intents and purposes, was a gross display of mischief and an abysmal display of ignorance by those who initiated and disseminated it.

“If the report was intended to expose the paucity of ideas and the futility of a naked public square dance to elicit attraction, it may have succeeded. But if it was intended to distract the government of Ondo State from its focus and commitment to good governance, it missed the point because we won’t provide a path for such.”

However, the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Dele Oyewale, in a telephone conversation, dispelled the report as untrue, saying that there was no such operation in the state.

He said: “I am highly disappointed in that reporter who wrote the story. If he has any personal issue to settle with the Ondo State government, he should not use the EFCC as a vehicle.

“There was no such operation on officials of the Ondo State government. The reporter in question called me and I told him there was nothing of such and for him to go ahead and write such a report shows how unprofessional some of us can be.”