The Kogi State government has tagged a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that the state’s N19.3 billion allegedly hidden funds had been returned to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as “mischievous, false and politically motivated”.
The government said the commission has 48 hours to retract the statement posted on its Facebook account on November 19 or prepare for legal action.
Kogi State Information and Communications Commissioner, Kingsley Fanwo announced the ultimatum at a media briefing yesterday in Lagos.
He said the saga was “a hatchet job conceived by politicians and implemented by an irresponsible EFCC” to tarnish the rising political image of Governor Yahaya Bello.
The commissioner assured the public, especially Kogi indigenes, Nigerians, investors, and development partners, that the funds claimed by the EFCC to have been returned to the CBN do not belong to the state.
“Let it be known that the Kogi State government refutes every bit of these false allegations being peddled by the EFCC. The Kogi State government had disbursed its bailout loans for which it was granted as of October 2019,” he said.
