Okpebholo Working With EFCC To Stop Inauguration Funds – Sources Allege

Sources close to the Edo State Transition Committee have accused the Governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo of being behind the recent arrest of government officials by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Naija News had exclusively revealed that the EFCC arrested some Edo State government officials who are signatories to the state government’s accounts.

About five officials, including the Accountant General of Edo State, are being held at the Benin office of the anti-graft agency.

The government officials were said to have been arrested on Thursday after they had been called in for briefing.

Speaking to Naija News on Sunday, sources close to the committee accused Okpebholo and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of allegedly working with the EFCC to arrest the government officials.

According to the sources, Okpebholo and his leaders are allegedly working with the anti-graft agency to ground the Edo State Government account days to the end of the Godwin Obaseki administration so that there will be no funds officially released for the inauguration activities.

One source said: “This will then pave the way for Okpebholo to approve around N10 billion naira under the guise of paying back the people who advanced them money to fund the ceremony.

“The bulk of this money is to be distributed among the Godfathers and leaders and the endorsers of the APC who played a role to ensure Okpebholo was declared the winner in the September 21 Governorship election.”

However, Senator Monday Okpebholo has refuted claims linking him to the arrest of Edo State Accountant-General, Julius Anelu, and four others by the EFCC.

Okpebholo described the arrest by the EFCC as a deliberate attempt to impede any last-minute efforts to allegedly siphon state funds by officials of the outgoing administration under Governor Godwin Obaseki.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Goodwill Inegbe, Okpebholo criticized those associating him with the EFCC’s actions, attributing such claims to discontented members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) still reeling from their loss in the September 21 governorship election.

The statement said: “It is evident that the PDP and members of Governor Obaseki’s outgoing administration are experiencing severe post-election defeat trauma. This has apparently led to unfounded reactions from them.

“The governor-elect, like every citizen of Edo, learnt about the arrest of Mr Julius Anelu and other state officials through media reports. The arrest by the EFCC reportedly aimed to forestall last-minute withdrawals from the state’s accounts.

“It is worth recalling that just over a week ago, through a press statement, we alerted the public and relevant security agencies to the ongoing looting of funds and theft of government properties at the Government House in Benin and across various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).”