Posted by By ADESINA AIYEKOTI and OLA AGBAJE on
Ahead of Saturday's election, the Lagos State has cried out that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is now under pressure to seize the account of the state investment company.
Ahead of Saturday's election, the Lagos State has cried out that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is now under pressure to seize the account of the state investment company.
According to top official of Lagos State who spoke on condition of anonymity, the move to freeze Ibile Holdings' account was being instigated by political opponent backed by the presidency.
Already, the anti-graft commission has filed a motion exparte before the Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos for an order to temporarily seize Ibile Holdings account in some banks.
When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Bola Tinubu, Mr Kehinde Bamgbetan, said the state had not been served with any writ of summon by EFCC, adding, however, that the commission had been on the trail of the state for sometime.
'I can confirm to you that in the past, EFCC has had cause to carry out investigation on the handling of the state local government funds and also its engagement with Alpha Beta Consulting Services but nothing incriminating was found against them.
'If they have now gone behind to get a court order to seize the state-owned investment company account, it is indeed a novel way of dealing with real and perceived political opponents," he said.
According to the application, seeking order for a temporary seizure of the account, pending conclusion of investigation, the commission was seeking for the order on the suspicion that the account might be used for unlawful purpose.
Specifically, the bone of contention is the N13 billion the state government decided to invest after pulling out of Econet from which its initial N3 billion climbed to N19 billion.