The Edo State Government claims that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s summons of its Accountant General, Julius Anelu, and four others is an attempt to destabilise the state.
Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency invited Anelu and four officials from the Edo State Treasury Office to its Benin City office in a letter 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.”
However, Edo State’s Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, stated that the agricultural loan “has already been repaid by the State Government.”
He explained, “Upon realising that one of the invited officials was no longer a signatory to the government account, the EFCC released the officer and requested the current signatory, whose name was not included in the original invitation letter.”
“The said officer is now also being detained by the agency in Abuja, alongside those originally invited who complied with the summons.”
Nehikhare accused the EFCC of aiming to cripple governance in Edo State and following a script that poses a serious threat to democracy. He asserted that the true purpose of summoning these civil servants, contrary to the stated reason in the invitation letter, is to hold them in EFCC custody until 12 November, the date when this administration’s term ends.
“As of Monday, the government will have been effectively paralysed and will be unable to fulfil basic responsibilities and obligations,” he added.
“This insidious action is utterly condemnable and unacceptable. We urge the EFCC to act responsibly in the interest of democracy, justice, peace, and the wellbeing of the Edo people, and to immediately release these government officials to prevent plunging Edo State into chaos.”