Inside details of why EFCC arrested Ogun Assembly Speaker, Oluomo

While the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is yet to issue an official statement on why it arrested the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, facts have emerged on the real reasons for the arrest.

The lawmaker was arrested at the Muritala Muhammad International Airport, Ikeja in the early hours of Thursday, and has since been transferred to the Abuja office of the Commission for questioning.

According to a reliable source, the Ogun State Assembly under Oluomo allegedly forged documents in the name of a company belonging to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Obasanjo Holdings Limited; to ‘steal and divert over N700 million means for the running of the Assembly.’

The Assembly was also alleged to have forged documents belonging to the former Speaker of the Assembly, Suraj Isola Adekunbi, Ashkash Nigeria Limited.

The Assembly was also alleged to have used the receipts and invoices of non-existing corporate entities to retire monies allegedly siphoned by some members of the Assembly.

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Recall that the anti-graft agency had in December 2021 and January 2022, invited members of the Assembly, as part of the Commission’s investigation into an allegation of mismanagement of the Assembly fund, which was ignored.

Instead of honouring the invitation, it was gathered, the Assembly, led by the Speaker, challenged the invitation by dragging the Agency before a Federal High Court in Abeokuta with an interlocutory application and a motion on notice backed by a 26-paragraph affidavit.

The EFCC further alleged that the suspects in the case who were plaintiffs in a suite carried out the alleged criminal acts by forging receipts and invoices ‘which they used to buttress the claim that the monies were spent for training for members of the House and other miscellaneous expenses’.

The Agency further alleged that the documents received from the Assembly on the 28th of April, 2021 were full of discrepancies and needed to invite some officers to make clarification on the discrepancies.

The EFCC maintained that its preliminary investigations have revealed “that there are criminal schemes perpetuated inside the Ogun State House of Assembly by its members and officials including but not limited to forgeries of documents, falsification of financial records and diversion of public funds to personal use by some elected members and civil servants.