The Executive Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has declared that the immediate Govenor of the state and his predecessor, Abiola Ajimobi left an almost bankrupt state for his administration.
This was disclosed on Monday, December 9th by the Govenor during a rally organised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan Zonal Office to commemoration the International Anti-Corruption Day themed, “Zero Tolerance to Corruption”.
Makinde appealed to Nigerians to join hands with anti-corruption agencies to fight corruption and stamp it out of the country and further stressed that no Nigerian citizen can experience dividend of democracy if corruption is not wiped away.
While delivering his speech, the Governor pledged his support to the anti-graft agency in fighting corruption in Nigeria to a stand still.
Makinde revealed that he inherited an almost bankrupt state due to the poor management of the state’s resources by his predecessor, pointing out, “Oyo State was almost bankrupt when we took over”.
According to him, with corruption ravaging the country, it may be difficult for the good old days to come.
“Do you know what corruption can do to you? Do you know what corruption can do to a nation? If you want free health system, free education, good road and infrastructural development, then fight corruption and kill it.
Let me tell you, we have been able to achieve something because we are not corrupt.
“If we are corrupt, we cannot do what we are doing right now. If you see anybody engaging in corruption, expose such. My government will fight corruption down to the local level. We will tackle corruption even at the grassroots level”, he added.
He stated further, “Oyo State is happy to join EFCC to fight corruption. We are the first state in Nigeria to domesticate anti-graft law. We will ensure that whatever we do during this administration, we do it right”.
While delivering his speech, the Zonal Head of EFCC, Ibadan, Friday Ebelo sought for collaboration with the state government to fight corruption.
Ebelo disclosed that the commission in Ibadan secured convictions for 171 out of the 268 prosecuted for financial crimes in 2019.
He said, “Our investigations also led to temporary fixing of 1044 bank accounts, while 56 automobiles and 14 houses were impounded. We equally have several laptops, android phones and many other electronic devices confiscated in compliance with court orders.
In the period under review, the zone also recovered on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria huge sums of money in both local and foreign currencies. These include a total of N211, 134,927.26. For the foreign currencies, we had $136,289 and €2000 and £765”.
