Former Ekiti Commissioner Reacts To N170m Fraud Allegation, Asks EFCC To Begin Investigation
The immediate past Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism in Ekiti State, Prof Ojo Bakare, has distanced himself from the allegation levelled against him that he embezzled over N170 million while superintending over the ministry.
The past commissioner steered clear that he served the state with utmost zeal during his service, adding that none of his family members was receiving salary contrary to the news making the rounds.
The former Dean, Post Graduate School, Federal University, Oye Ekiti was responding to the accusations on social media that he embezzled over N100 million during the 2021 edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture hosted by Ekiti.
The allegations also pointed out that he defrauded the Ministry of over N26 million in the 2022 NAFEST hosted by Lagos State, while he also plunged the ministry into N40m debt being money purportedly expended on media during the arts fiesta hosted by Ekiti.
While speaking with journalists in Ado Ekiti, on Friday, the academic debunked the allegation, saying the government of Governor Kayode Fayemi only released a sum of N94 million for the 2021 NAFEST.
Bakare dispelled the accusation that he and the Ministry’s contingents, who attended the Lagos NAFEST programme 2022, spent over N26 million on hotels when only N15 million was released by government for the 87-member contingents that represented Ekiti.
He also refuted the allegation that the responsibilities being given to him by Governor Biodun Oyebanji after leaving office connoted that he was planning to scheme a comeback as a commissioner.
Bakare, who threatened to petition the Commissioner of Police, Mr Morounkeji Adesina to investigate the purveyors of the “fake news”, charged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, to investigate the ministry’s financial books under his reign.
According to him, “Recently, I went to Lagos State on the instruction of Governor Oyebanji to represent Ekiti. He also asked me to represent him at an event organised by the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria in Ekiti.
“Those who are eyeing the commissionership seat started fighting me. They became threatened thinking that I wanted to come back, so what they wrote was 100 per cent lies.
“I am not running the ministry as a commissioner. The governor sent me on errands as a professional, which I couldn’t turn down.
“They said I embezzled over N100m as a Commissioner during Ekiti NAFEST, even when the entire budget for that event was N94 million. The same event Lagos State hosted with over N2bn. My personal fund went into Ekiti NAFEST.
“They said I am still collecting money for some Media Houses that the Ministry owed N40m during NAFEST. In case they didn’t know, the National Council for Arts and Culture was responsible for the funding for publicity, my office only supported with a token.
“In the Lagos NAFEST that we attended, we didn’t owe any hotel in Lagos, the entire contingents in Ekiti were camped at a faith-based centre in Gbagada. 87 people represented Ekiti and the money budgeted for them was just N15m, no case of N26m hotel accommodation debt”.
Bakare denied being high-handed or acting as a “tyrant” as a commissioner, saying that he didn’t take away any vehicle belonging to the Ministry after leaving office on October 14, 2022.