Ekiti APC carpets PDP over alleged N2.6bn school intervention fund fraud

All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ekiti State has dismissed as a lie from the pit of hell, the allegation by the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that the APC-led government in the state diverted the sum of N2. 6 billion Secondary Intervention fund in the State.
The PDP in the state had alleged that the government of the immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, had shared a N2.6 billion secondary school intervention fund fraudulently.
But in a statement, the State’s Publicity Secretary of the APC, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said: “The PDP spokesperson sure needs help as there is no such money called Secondary Intervention Fund in Ekiti and there is no N2. 6 billion received not to talk of sharing. How can you share an amount not received? We challenge him to produce any financial document with such title.
“We have noticed a new trend of deliberate falsehood in the PDP spokesperson who is trying frantically to impress his paymasters and justify his position. We wonder how an adult can wake up to cook lies just to score cheap political points. Last week, it was an imaginary N4. 1 billion naira that APC shared among its members,” Olatunbosun said.
“We would have ignored this ridiculous allegation but for the sake of the unsuspecting public who may buy the lies, we need to set the records straight.
“The only fund received was the statutory State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Education Tax Fund (ETF) throughout the four year tenure of the Fayemi administration. The funds were suspended before Fayemi assumed office and was only restored during his tenure. The fund with the ETF was used to establish 42 new primary schools and to renovate 1,533 classrooms in 836 primary schools with the delivery of 11, 700 pupils’ desks while new secondary schools were established across the state among which were Ilokuno secondary school in Ijero LGA and Government Science Secondary School, Iyin Ekiti in Irepodun/ Ifelodun LGA. Apart from these, 27 new classroom blocks were built in secondary schools all over the state. These are verifiable projects and we challenge the PDP to debunk this.”
He added that “renovation of 183 secondary schools in the State was not funded with SUBEB funds but partly from federal allocation and partly from the Internally Generated Revenue under the judicious management of the Fayemi administration,” stressing that “we make bold to say that the Fayemi administration did not receive any special or intervention fund from the Jonathan administration that deliberately starved Ekiti State of funds under Governor Fayemi. It is on record that all efforts by Governor Fayemi to secure Ekiti state ecological fund and refund on Federal roads was rebuffed by the Jonathan administration. Immediately Fayose assumed office, the sum of N2million Ecological fund and another N22 billion refund on roads was paid to him making a total of N24 billion which the Fayose administratin is yet to account for.
“The latest lies from the stable of Ekiti PDP is their response to their inability to defend how Ekiti fund was expended more so when the governor cannot pay workers’ salary and yet allegedly awarded himself a whopping N720 million naira salary and allowances arrears. It is a diversionary tactic and transfer of PDP’s irresponsibility and inability to pay workers salary but Ekiti workers are not deceived with the latest lies as they are used to the antics of the Fayose administration which made falsehood a state policy.
“The PDP administration should be ashamed of itself for scrapping almost all poverty alleviation programmes put in place by his predecessor and despite saving money from this, it could not pay salary as at when due.
“If the PDP has written about five petitions to the EFCC and ICPC and none has been acted upon in the last 8 months, it means the petitions are frivolous as the anti-graft agencies are not petty organisations. The PDP need not sweat much to unravel any graft committed by the Fayemi administration if it really has its facts and not on a mission to witch hunt.
“Since it is the party in government, all it needs to do is to set up a panel to look into this. Fayemi has six months ago challenged Fayose to probe him and stop maligning him in the media without any proof. We are aware of a secret administrative panel set up to indict Fayemi but when they couldn’t find anything against him, it was disbanded and the alternative to this is the latest daily bundle of lies without any substance.
“We wish to remind the PDP that Fayose is still standing trial over corruption charges of N1.3 billion poultry scam and we wish to let him know that immunity is not forever. On the other hand, no member of the Fayemi administration has been invited by the EFCC for graft and this shows the difference between Fayemi who served Ekiti with dignity and unblemished record and Fayose who up till now has no plan for the welfare of any Ekiti person other than his own comfort and that of his immediate family. Ekiti people, especially civil servants who he has not paid, are beginning to know the difference between the two administrations.
“We challenge the PDP once again to produce the documents with which the so called N2.6 billion Intervention Fund was received and the financial document with which the money was diverted and evidence of those it was shared to. We are ready to meet before the EFCC if they have the guts.”
Conluding, Olatunbosun said that the APC implores “the Fayose administration to stop lying and explain what he has done with all the funds collected from the Federal Government and saved from the programmes he scrapped and on six months moratorium on debts he was granted. We implore Ekiti workers not to relent in asking for their salary with all legal means at their disposal.”