BY ALIJO SYLVESTER, ABUJA – Four former Commissioners under the administration of former Governor of Kogi State, Capt Idris Wada, have been arrested and are being detained by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over allegations of misapplication of government funds and abuse of office.
The ex-Commissioners are those of Culture and Tourism -Kayode Olowomoran; Transport – Abdulrahman Wuya; Works – Onama Godwin and Budget and Planning – Ali Ajuh.
They were arrested after ICPC commenced investigations into allegations that the suspects, acting in connivance with the former Governor, former Accountant-General, Ibrahim Idakwo and a former Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Commerce, Frank Onoja, obtained a N2 billion Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria on behalf of the state which was misapplied.
The ICPC said its preliminary investigations has revealed that the suspects allegedly partook in the mismanagement of another N8 billion bond that was raised to fund 57 projects across the state.
The anti-corruption agency said the large sums of monies released for the projects were allegedly far beyond the levels of work done.
Furthermore, the suspects were alleged to have benefitted from illegal deductions to the tune of N1.3 billion made from the funds of 21 local government councils of the state by the same administration.
A statement by the spokesperson of the ICPC said while investigations continue, the suspects will remain in custody until they fulfil the administrative bail conditions granted them by the Commission.
