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KOGI/EFCC N20 BILLION SAGA; WHEN KEEPING MUTE IS MORE SENSIBLE

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Since the request by the EFCC to freeze the Account of Kogi State Government was granted by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, lots of drama have played out and there seems to be no abatement anytime soon.

The Mirror Account excuse that gave way to total denial of the Account by Kogi State Government further threw more confusion in the fray.

While lots of people are more interested in the figures and the alleged malfeasance, the bigger picture can only be captured if the request for the bailout, its approval and eventual disbursement is put in proper perspective.

Alh. Idris Wada put together the bailout request based on needs assessment but for political reasons, it was not released though approved towards the end of the Wada administration.

One will reasonably expect that every issue pertaining to salaries, gratuity and pensions up till the expiration of the Wada administration should have been resolved. Unfortunately, this never happened.
While emphasis is being placed on the alleged misappropriation of the N20 billion balance, no one is talking about the disbursement of the initial N30 billion accessed.

Alh. Yahaya Bello had the bailout released to him but his administration frittered away a golden opportunity to wipe the tears of Senior citizens who devoted the prime years of their lives to the service of Kogi State with some starting work in old Kwara State. The above assertion however, will be confirmed with the outcome of the tango between EFCC and the Kogi State Government.

Is the EFCC right to have discontinued the case in court? Probably not. But with the reported return of the disowned billions to the CBN vaults by Sterling Bank, the mission is assumed to have been accomplished  by the EFCC.

Kogi State on the other hand has been strident in its denials of knowledge of existence of the said Account and ownership.
One will expect the Kogi State Government in its obvious desperate desire to prove its innocence to drag the EFCC to the appropriate judicial quarters. What we have seen so far, is a cacophony of positions that are ludicrous, upsetting and unfortunate.

The comic attempt by the Kogi State House of Assembly to intimidate Sterling Bank is in my opinion, not the way out of the mess. The Managing Director of Sterling Bank will have to honour the request of the Kogi State House of Assembly to appear before it to ‘clarify’ issues especially now that the ‘warrant of arrest’ is dangling over the MD.

Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Strategy has been busy recently trying to exonerate the government of any wrongdoing.

But linking the whole saga to an alleged plot to deny the North Central Presidential ticket is taking ridiculousness to unfathomable heights. Is Alh. Yahaya Bello the North Central consensus candidate? When has a mere expression of interest become an endorsement? This is a pathetic strategy and nothing more.

Have Kogi State Government under Alh. Yahaya Bello accessed in full the bailout as requested by the administration of Alh. Idris Wada?
If yes? Why is the issue of owed salary areas, piecemeal payment of pensions and gratuity still persisting?
Why are local government workers and teachers still being paid a pitiable percentage of their salaries?
Why are past political office holders still clamouring for their severance package, six years after?
These and more questions need truthful answers. Anything to the contrary is mere shadow-chasing.

The Presidential aspiration of Alh. Yahaya Bello will surely be in jeopardy if the N20 billion saga is not resolved.

Of equal importance is the fate of retirees and local government workers who have held the rough and spiky end of the stick for quite some time.

Nigerians will certainly not want misery, agony and suffering to be duplicated in their lives if the conditions of Senior citizens, local government workers and teachers is a pointer to what the Presidency of Alh. Yahaya Bello holds them.

The Strategists in Kogi State Government should understand the delicate nature of the N20 billion debacle by keeping mute if further narratives from them on this issue will remain shallow, bland and unimaginative.

Interesting times are ahead for EFCC and the Kogi Stuate Government but it remains to be seen how this will translate to the amelioration of the sufferings of retirees, local government workers and teachers.
– Gbenga Adewale

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