I’m not afraid of probe, says Oshiomhole

Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has welcomed the call by the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the state’s local government account.

He said while he is pleased with the suggestion raised by the state chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, for the EFCC to look into the books and accounts of local government administration in the last six years, such investigation should also cover the period between 1999 and 2008 when the opposition was in power.

Chief Orbih, had on Sunday, called on the EFCC to investigate the operation of the state’s council funds, claiming that the financial crisis in the state, which has made local government councils unable to pay salaries was caused by Governor Oshiomhole.

The PDP chairman, who said his party has more than enough materials to nail the corrupt practices of the governor, challenged him to forfeit his security votes to enable the councils fulfill their financial obligation to the aggrieved employees.

But the governor, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Prince Kassim Afegbua, yesterday, urged the anti-graft agency to begin the probe starting from 1999 when the opposition party controlled the state government.

Read also: Edo PDP wants EFCC to prosecute Oshiomhole

He said: “From such investigative effort, the public would be able to know who siphoned local government funds between the government of Comrade Oshiomhole and that governed by the PDP for 10 years. This should be the real challenge in the light of ongoing effort to sanitise the inherited rotten system from the PDP.”

The governor said while the state under his leadership was driven by prudence in the management of resources, he was proud that achievements of his administration in the last six years far supersede that of the PDP’s 10 years of governing the state.

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