EFCC deceiving Nigerians on N20bn bailout fund – Kogi govt

The Kogi State government accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of trying to mislead Nigerians on the N20 billion bailout fund.

The commission said on Friday it has returned the allegedly hidden N19.3 billion Kogi salary bail out cash to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In a statement issued by its Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC said the apex bank had acknowledged the receipt of the sum in the Kogi State Salary Bailout account domiciled in a new generation bank.

According to the anti-graft agency, the recovery and the deposit of the cash with CBN had cleared all doubts on the operation of its operation on the hidden cash.

The state’s Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, who reacted to the EFCC’s claim in a statement in Lokoja, insisted that the commission was trying desperately to “wriggle out of a bad case with another mischief aimed at misleading Nigerians again.”

READ ALSO: EFCC returns N19.3bn Kogi salary bailout ‘kept’ in Sterling Bank to CBN

He added that the CBN had not said anything different from its previous statement on the bailout funds.

Fanwo said the Kogi government would prepare a comprehensive response to the commission’s latest desperate moves to save its face in view of its obvious goof and unethical conduct on the matter.

The commissioner said: “The press statement by the Commission is a malicious attempt to rope the state into a matter that ordinarily has nothing to do with our dear state.

“We maintain the unassailable truth that the Kogi State Government did not operate such account with the bank as affirmed in a letter by the bank. We sympathize with the EFCC as it has been a herculean task to cover the initial misinformation and deliberate deceit by the commission.

“Kogites and indeed, Nigerians should rest assured that we will get to the root of this matter.”

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