The immediate past Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Suraj Adekunbi, has reacted to reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to probe his administration from 2015 to 2019.
DAILY POST reports that Adekunbi was the longest-serving Speaker in Ogun, presiding over the Assembly for a period of eight years, from 2011 to 2019.
Recently, the EFCC was said to have sent a letter to the assembly, asking for information on all budget appropriations and allocations of the House from May 30, 2015, to date.
While confirming the EFCC letter, the incumbent Speaker, Olakunle Oluomo, who served as the Deputy under Adekunbi, said an aggrieved member of the House could have written to the anti-graft agency.
Oluomo stated also that he was not the Speaker from 2015 to 2019; saying, “The EFCC is asking for information from 2015. I wasn’t at the helm of affairs from 2015 to 2019.”
However, speaking in an interview with our correspondent, the former Speaker said he could not have been part of the EFCC probe, as the development is nothing personal to him.
According to him, his successor, after taking over from him, had inherited both the assets and liabilities, adding that government is a continuum.
Adekunbi stated that no letter was sent to him by the EFCC or any other person, stressing that he heard the probe on the radio like every other Ogun indigene.
His words: “The truth about it is that I have not gotten any letter to that effect. By God’s grace, I finished my tenure of almost two years or thereabout. And we have the leadership of the House that is currently working to consolidate on what we’ve achieved in the past.
“So, whatever it is that is needed, the EFCC, to me, they know where to direct their letters to. I think they have been doing that already. Me, as far as I am concerned, I have not gotten any invitation. I’ve not gotten anything. I just heard it on radio and television, just like every other Ogun State citizen.
“How will I be part of EFCC probe, when the situation wasn’t personal? I was the head of the administration then. You know, as the leader of the team, since I left office, somebody has assumed office. And whatever it is, in any setting, the government is a continuum and you are taking over both the liabilities and the assets. So, we should just assume that the probe is part of what is expected of any system. It is normal.”
