How we shared N5bn among Kwara lawmakers, top govt officials —Witness

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission says it has
uncovered how 24 ex-lawmakers at the Kwara House of Assembly,
former Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, and some companies
allegedly swindled the state of about N5bn.

Head of media and publicity of the Commission, Mr Wilson
Uwujaren, disclosed this in a statement made available to News
Agency of Nigeria in Ilorin on Friday.

According to him, the money belongs to the Kwara State Internal
Revenue Service between 2015 and 2019.

Uwujaren said the immediate past chairman of KWIRS, Prof.
Muritala Awodu; former member of the Kwara State House of Assembly,
Moshood Bakare; and some staff of KWIRS are presently being
interrogated by the Commission.

“It was discovered during investigations that about five
companies linked to highly placed politicians in Kwara State
benefited about N4bn from the money, without any valid contractual
agreement with the state government.

“Other beneficiaries of the money include all the former 24
members of the Kwara House of Assembly, including the Speaker, Dr.
Ali Ahmad; former Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu; ex-Kwara
State Accountant-General, Ishola Sulyman; and permanent
secretaries, among others,” Uwujaren said.

Uwujaren said that a staff of KWIRS, while being interrogated by
EFCC operatives, said the House of Assembly members were collecting
N4m monthly for public relations, which they shared among
themselves.

According to him, the former Kwara State Commissioner for
Finance, Ademola Banu, was collecting N5m monthly without working
for it.

“In fact, Mr. Banu collected it in cash, I did take it to his
house. If we didn’t give him, he won’t approve anything we took to
him.”

Uwujaren said the Chairman, House Committee on appropriation and
finance said they usually sent the money into the account of his
personal assistant who will then withdraw the money and give it to
him.

He said the chairman will thereafter hand it over to the
Speaker, Dr Ali Ahmad, who will later share it to all the honorable
members.

He said further, “Some honourable members collected the money in
cash, while some insisted that the money should be transferred into
their accounts.”

Uwujaren said it was further discovered that a personal
assistant to the former Governor of Kwara, Rafiu Olasile, allegedly
received the sum of N10m from one of the aides to ex-chairman of
House Committee on Appropriation and Finance.

(NAN)