Admin l Friday, May 2, 2019
OWERRI, Imo, Nigeria – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) has said it did not block the account of Imo State Government contrary to media reports.
In a statement, the EFCC said on the eve of the rescheduled March 9, 2019 gubernatorial election in the state, the commission got intelligence that part of the Paris Club refund to the state was about to be used for the purpose of vote buying and other sundry fraud.
“Arising from the development, the Commission swung into action and succeeded in blocking the withdrawal of the said funds, as well as trace the usage of N500,000,000 (Five Hundred Million Naira) which had been withdrawn in cash, out of which N77,000,000 (Seventy Seven Million Naira) was recovered.
“Thereafter, in the process of securing these funds, a freezing order was sought and obtained from a court of competent jurisdiction. So far, investigation is still ongoing with regards to the destinations of those funds”, the EFCC said.
See full statement below
The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to a purported statement credited to the governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha during the commissioning of some projects by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, in an online news platform, The Cable, to the effect that the EFCC had for the past three months, blocked the account of the state government.
For the avoidance of doubt, it is pertinent to let Nigerians know exactly what has happened, so as to make informed judgement.
On the eve of the rescheduled March 9, 2019 gubernatorial election in the state, the Commission got intelligence that part of the Paris Club refund to the state was about to be used for the purpose of vote buying and other sundry fraud.
Arising from the development, the Commission swung into action and succeeded in blocking the withdrawal of the said funds, as well as trace the usage of N500,000,000 (Five Hundred Million Naira) which had been withdrawn in cash, out of which N77,000,000 (Seventy Seven Million Naira) was recovered.
Thereafter, in the process of securing these funds, a freezing order was sought and obtained from a court of competent jurisdiction. So far, investigation is still ongoing with regards to the destinations of those funds.
We wish therefore, to state categorically for the record, that the EFCC did not and has not blocked the Federal Account Allocation Committee Account (FAAC) nor the Joint Local Government Account (JAAC) which form the bulk of the state’s statutory allocation and expenditure, hence the Commission could not have “closed down activities of the state” as was alleged in the said statement by the governor.
Nigerians are by this advised not to be distracted from focusing on the substance of any issue in making rightful decision on matters regarding corruption, their commonwealth and the well-being of the nation generally.
