N300m scandal: Kwara commissioner resigns, accuses gov of betrayal

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  • …Allegedly walks out on governor
    ….Send EFCC to probe our account kwara govt asks FG

The Governor of Kwara State, Mallam Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq is currently in a state of dilemma over the sudden resignation of one of his female commissioners few days ago. the Governor according to top informants have been struggling to persuade his angry Commissioner to return to office so the government would be save from embarrassment that could follow such actions if allowed to fly.

According to an highly classified information from kwara state government house , the former commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs , Mrs Aishat Ahman Pategi who was recently redeployed to Ministry of special duties had submitted her resignation letter last Tuesday to Governor Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq and had since made herself unavailable from office.

Mrs Aishat Ahman Pategi reportedly sent her resignation letter through one of the DSS officials attached to Governor Abdulrahaman late Tuesday and immediately went incommunicado to an undisclosed destination.

The Female commissioner in her resignation letter which had not been made public expressed her appreciation to the Governor for the privileges accorded her to serve the state since inception. Mrs Pategi therefore announced her resignation at the closing paragraph of the letter while wishing the government well .

But close allies of the female commissioner who confided in this medium narrated how aggrieved Aisha Pategi is over the last 300 millions naira said to have been withdrawn from Ministry of local government and kept with Commissioner for finance without her awareness as commissioner in charge of that ministry

According to the source , Mrs Pategi later got wind that the 300mIllion naira is being diverted secretly from local government purse every month since last year . The female commissioner was told that the fund are withdrawn every month on the instruction of Governor Abdulrahaman in connivance with Commissioner for finance, before the information got to Aishat Pategi during her last visit to the bank

Meanwhile, Governor Abdulrahaman who received the letter from the DSS official became shocked and unsettled immediately. He then launched a robust manhunt to fish out the aggrieved female commissioner so they both can talk the matter over . Aside from the manhunt , the Governor also directed that the letter be kept away from press or any medium by which it could leak to the public .
But Aishat Pategi who later made herself available to the Governor two days later was said to have expressed her disappointments in the Governor for the act which she tagged as betrayal. The angry Commissioner was quoted to have said

“Your Excellency , I’m so angry and couldn’t bear the pain, the best way to make myself happy is to leave the job right now and there is no going back . If despite my loyalty to you, you could chose to connive with that little girl (referring to Commissioner for Finance, Mrs. Florence Olasunbo), draw over 300 millions naira from my own office without my knowledge… ”

On hearing her reasons for resignation, the Governor tried to cut in and told her to return to office but the angry Commissioner became more furious and her voice began to go up from the room.

“Go back to where Your Excellency? She queried  further , she reportedly said

“That can only happen if you explain to me what you and the commissioner of Finance have been doing with 300M naira withdrawn from my Ministry, show me any tangible thing that have been done with this money in any local government, that would make it easy for make me to rescind my decision ”

Immediately she walked off, the Governor reportedly summoned the Etsu of Patigi to Ilorin and explained what had transpired and how he wants Aisha back in office noting that if she is allowed to proceed on resignation, it will cause a lot of embarrassment to the government and the damage could be terrible .

However, the commissioner had met with the royal father but that could not soften her heart as she insisted she would not return to office unless they showed him where all the 300Million naira have been going to.

If all things being equal , the governor is expected to meet Aishat Ahman Pategi between now and weekend if the latter embrace the governor’s requests .

*AbdulRazaq invites EFCC, sets up independent panel to probe LG funds*

• Urges Assembly to hold public hearing on alleged diverted funds
However, as the crisis of confidence rages on, Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has invited the anti-graft agency EFCC to conduct an independent probe into funds so far received and disbursed to the 16 local government areas between May 2019 and now.

He assured that a panel of inquiry comprising members from various backgrounds will also be set up to look into the local governments’ funds, according to a statement by the governor’s spokesman Rafiu Ajakaye.
Said he,”For the sake of accountability and transparency, the governor is hereby calling in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conduct urgent probe into funds so far received as allocations and spent by the 16 local government between May 29 and now,” the statement said.

“Separately, the governor will also be setting up a panel of inquiry in the immediate, to look into the same issues. Members of the panel and its terms of reference would be announced soon.

“This probe is borne out of the fact that this administration has not touched a kobo of money belonging to the local governments. It has nothing to hide. But for abundance of caution, the governor will be tasking not just the EFCC but also a panel of inquiry with members drawn from various backgrounds to investigate the LG funds, how they have been spent, and expose any mismanagement or diversion of the funds (if any).

“The call becomes necessary in view of the outrageous claims by some persons that money to the tune of N300m was diverted monthly from LG accounts.

The statement stated further that the administration feels this deserves to be probed and laid to rest because governance is about public trust.

“Similarly, His Excellency appeals to the House of Assembly — which comprises the elected representatives of the people with oversight powers — to hold a public hearing on the said matter.

“The Governor restates that he would not be found mismanaging or siphoning public funds. He maintains his stand, which dated back to his days in the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), that the local governments should be allowed to manage their own funds with minimal or no supervision by the State as the law may allow. He insists that any official found to have diverted or mismanaged public funds under him would be made to account for same as prescribed under the law.”

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