Arrest Oshiomhole now, Edo petitioners tell EFCC

Anti-corruption campaigners in Edo State are mounting intense pressure on the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to arrest Adams Oshiomhole, immediate past governor of the state for alleged contract inflation and misappropriation of state funds after they submitted petitions against the former president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to the anti-graft agency.
In the petitions and acknowledged receipts by the EFCC sighted by BDSUNDAY, Oshiomhole was accused of using N10 billion to build mansion which was designed and constructed by Verissimo, a South African architect in Iyamho, Edo State; inflating contracts and diverting billions of naira while in office.

Kola Edokpaiyi, a Benin-based human right activist, who is one of the petitioners, said his petition against Oshiomhole for alleged misappropriation of state funds when he was governor of the Edo was submitted on November 4, 2016, to the EFCC and that he is surprised that the anti-graft agency had yet to invite the former governor even for questioning.

He alleged that the former governor is currently constructing another mansion in Abuja where he planned to move to, and inflated the contract for the construction of Ewohimi General Hospital in Edo Central, which he said gulped over an additional N200million.

“The EFCC acknowledged the receipt of my petition against Oshiomhole. We expect that the EFCC should have at least, invited him for questioning, like they have been doing to former governors who are members of opposition parties. The only thing we have read in the newspapers since the petition was made is that the EFCC has commenced investigation into the matter. But that is not enough. We have concluded on our own that we will give them this week and if nothing is done, we file another petition again as a reminder to the EFCC next week. They should let us know how far they have gone in respect to the petition. Our leaders are supposed to be transparent and accountable to us. They are supposed to render account of their stewardship to the people who elected them. If Mr. A is arrested for stealing magi in the market, Mr. B should be equally arrested for stealing state funds,” he told BDSUNDAY in Benin.

According him, the decision of EFCC not to primarily invite Oshiomhole for questioning, is justifying the view of several Nigerians that the anti-corruption war of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is one-sided, saying that those arrested so far and those accused of corruption but are still in government, is an indication that Nigeria still has a long way to go.
“You cannot build institution like this when you only arrest members of opposition parties accused of corruption and ignore those accused of the same thing who are in the ruling party and are close to the President. We still have a long way to go. If you are fighting corruption, fight it holistically, not selectively,” he said.

“If Oshiomhole was in opposition party, the EFCC would have invited him since he left office. We can only build strong men in this manner, instead of building strong institutions. This is the reason our institutions are weak. If it was opposition the EFCC would have made so much noise in the media with invitation and arrest. Sometime, I wonder if this is really a fight against corruption because there are lots economic vampires around the President whose petitions have gathered dust at the EFCC. There are serious corrupt elements in Buhari’s government and Nigerians know them. But we will keep mounting pressure on them,” Edokpaiyi further said.

Osadolor Ochei, an award-winning human rights activist whose petition against Oshiomhole was submitted to the EFCC while the ex-governor was still in office, said if the anti-graft agency fails to arrest him despite overwhelming and verifiable evidences before the commission, it would make mockery of the regime’s anti-corruption campaign.
Ochei said the Ewohimi General Hospital’s project which the governor is being accused of embezzling over N200 million from, was awarded to one Victor Oboigbe, a relative of Clara, Oshiomhole’s late wife, saying that he is watching keenly to see if the EFCC would let the former governor go free without arrest and trial.

“There was also a water project he gave to Victor Eboigbe in the same Ewohimi which was also over-inflated. If the EFCC refuses to do the needful, we will take up the matter in the media; to tell Nigerians that the so-called Buhari and APC are not fighting corruption, they are only fighting back enemies or opponents. We have records of all others that have been indicted but nothing has been done about them because they are protected. That is why we are watching. I also plan to go and see Magu again, to remind him about what we are hearing, so that he can confirm whether it is true or not. We will be asking Magu whether he is there to protect certain interests or the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians. By the time I bring out all these allegations and what Oshiomhole has done while in office, Magu should be able to tell which side he is; then, we will now know what to do. If Buhari cannot send signals to members of the ruling party who are corrupt as he is doing to members of the opposition accused of corruption, then he is not ready for the job yet,” he told BD SUNDAY.

The human rights activist further said he would take his petition to the Code Conduct Bureau (CCB) if the EFCC refuses to take seriously the petitions written against Oshiomhole, since the law establishing the CCB already states that public office holders must declare their financial status before assuming office and do same after leaving.

“The CCB law says that before you assume an office you declare your assets and when you are also leaving you declare your assets. So, we will look at Oshiomhole’s salaries for eight years; and N600, 000 a month cannot be up to N70 million for eight years. So, if your salaries for eight years are not up to N70 million and you are building house of N10 billion, then, he should be able to tell us the source of the money because money does not fall from heaven. Nobody should think that he is too clever and can cover up everything. All we are saying is that if Oshiomhole cannot provide evidence how he got the money, the properties should be seized, sold, the money given to Godwin Obaseki to help develop Edo State. I am not saying give me the money,” he said.
He expressed disappointment that while pensioners in the state, who had served for more than 30 years, are dying every day from starvation and their children dropping out of school, the Edo State House of Assembly is busy approving a mansion worth hundreds of millions of naira for Adams Oshiomhole who served for 8 years.

“Every day, Edo State Government calls pensioners for verification and asked for their records and other documents, just to find out how many are dead among them without paying them. I also run pension consultancy and I can tell you statistically how many pensioners are in the state. The State House of Assembly has not sat down to consider the plight of these pensioners who are senior citizens of the state but it found time to sit down to approve N200 million for governor and N100 million for his deputy, and we know that they have mansions all over the world. Some pensioners can’t even pay house rent,” Ochei said.

According to him, “They (EFCC) have started their investigation; they are verifying our allegations and they have also arrested some of Oshiomhole’s aides (the chairman of the state Universal Basic Education and a director) that he used in laundering Edo State funds. Those ones embezzled N1.5 billion and that money was embezzled during their local government election. Those are the ones that have been arrested by the EFCC. We also have verifiable documents of approval signed by the former governor for them to collect this money,” he said.
DeboAdeniran, chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), urged the two Edo anti-corruption campaigners to continue to press the matter until something comes out of their respective petitions against the former governor.

“They should even file another petition as a reminder to the EFCC. The EFCC may actually be doing something about the matter quietly, but decided to avoid media trial. But they should follow the matter to its logical conclusion,” Adeniran said.

 

NATHANIEL AKHIGBE