Associate Of Bayelsa Governor Declared Wanted By The Efcc Over N150million Theft
Information available to Ukpakareports.com indicates that not all is well in Bayelsa State. This is following the unfolding siege bedeviling the State by the news of the State Governor's abuse of drugs and the resulting mental incapacitation. Worsening the unrest within the political circles is the latest information that has pegged a close associate to the Governor of Bayelsa Governor [Timipre Sylva] in the person of Reginald Dede as on the run from the authorities of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] over a 150million theft.
Reginald Dede, who sits at the realm of affairs at the State's environmental sanitation agency, has been on the run from the EFCC since he failed to honor the invitation letter by the EFCC on August 25th 2009. The letter which was signed by Tahir Usman is referenced CR:3000/EFCC/ABJ/EG/TC/VOL.IV/244. The letter was written after an August 5th 2009 letter referenced CR:3000/EFCC/ABJ/EG/TC/VOL.IV/194 was ignored by the party involved. Both letters were addressed to the Secretary to the State Government and requested the presence of the Commissioner of Environment and Reginald Dede at the EFCC office located at EFCC Block C, No. 5 Forrella Street, off Adetokumbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 11 in Abuja. While the Commissioner of Environment honored the invitation by the EFCC, Reginald Dede went into hiding instead. Abdul Bako was to conduct the interrogation.
In talking with sources within the EFCC, Ukpakareports.com learnt that Reginald Dede was caught in a clear case of robbery. The source indicated that the EFCC was originally engaged in an investigation against the Bayelsa government over a N70billion loan it took on behalf of the State – of which was never spent by the State Government but managed to disappear off the financial books of the State. The source indicates that it was in the course of this investigation that the investigators discovered that Reginald Dede had walked into the State's bank account and withdrew a one time sum of N150million and transferred it directly into his personal account. The money was earmarked for payment of street sweepers that consist of elderly women. These elderly women have gone for six months with payment of their salaries. The source confirmed that a manhunt for Reginald Dede has been launched.
And so Bayelsa State finds itself under the tentacles of a corrupt and drugged governing body. Already, calls for the resignation of the Governor [Sylva] have reached feverish pitch while the turmoil within the PDP in Bayelsa State has pitched the Governor against his deputy and against the State Chairman of the party. To this end, the National Chairman of the PDP [Vincent Ogbulafor] upon the instruction of the Vice President [Goodluck Jonathan] has invited the trio [governor, deputy governor and PDP chairman] to a peace meeting at the PDP secretariat [Wadata Plaza] in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja. The meeting was scheduled for Tuesday December 8, 2009.
In a related development, Governor Timipre Sylva, as Ukpakareports.com investigation gathered, has not made a public appearance in Bayelsa since his returned from India where he was receiving treatment for cocaine induced mental imbalance he suffered recently.
Following our reports on Sylva mental situation, his friends and family have beseeched us with phone calls that consisted of threats and pleading. One of the close relatives of the governor who called our correspondent acknowledged that the governor have had a history of spinal-cord problem – that had over the years affected his mental capacity.