EFCC arraigns Ondo Speaker over N2. 4m phoney seminar

The Speaker, Ondo State House of Assembly, Bamidele Oleyelogun, is currently in court as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned him for financial impropriety to the tune of N2.4 million.

To be arraigned with the Speaker are the lawmaker representing Akoko South West I in the House, Felemu Bankole; two civil servants attached to the Assembly; Olusegun Kayode and Afolabi O. J.

The alleged fraud being prosecuted by the EFCC was said to have been committed in 2019, when the lawmakers were supposed to have attended a two-day seminar organised by the National Productivity Centre, Lagos.

It was gathered that the lawmakers requested for fund to be released for four members of the Committee on Tertiary Education to attend the seminar scheduled for Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th December, 2019.

Those penciled down to attend the Seminar included the former Clerk, the Deputy Speaker, the Chairman of the House Committee on Tertiary Education and two members of the committee.

According to the details in the document requesting for fund, “the seminar was aimed at institutional productivity, consciousness and excellence in service among workers and organisations in both public and private sectors, to accord workers and organizations the platform in achieving high productivity as well as giving impetus to the seminar in charting the pathway in revitalizing the Educational Sector.”

However, it was discovered that there was no such seminar organised, while the money released by the state Ministry of Finance amounting to N2.4 million, was alleged to have gone into private pockets.

The counsel to the EFCC, Dibang Frederick, said the anti-graft commission supposed to arraign the lawmakers and the civil servants in the court but could not get the hearing notice until late in the evening of Monday.

He said the EFCC would get another date for the arraignment of the lawmakers when the court gives another hearing notice.

The Speaker’s arraignment on Tuesday was responsible for the suspension of the screening of Commissioner-nominees billed to continue on Tuesday by the Ondo House of Assembly.

Public Relations Officer of the correctional centre, Mr. Ogundare Babatunde, when contacted on phone corroborated the Squadron Commander, insisting that no journalists would be allowed into the court.

Oleyelogun and some members and officials of the Assembly were alleged by Hon. Iroju Ogundeji, the deputy speaker of the Assembly who was controversially removed, of collecting and sharing some money for a seminar in Lagos which they never attended.

Ogundeji had written EFCC to investigate the fund allegedly collected and shared by the speaker and others for a phoney seminar in Lagos.

But operatives of the Olokuta Correctional Centre prevented journalists who were on the ground to cover the court proceedings from gaining entry into the court.

A Squadron Commander, who manned the entry point, insisted that journalists could not be allowed in because there was an order from Abuja that all correctional centres should be on red alert to prevent jailbreak.