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Akande is culpable �Oyinlola
Akande has said that the variation cost of the contract, which you are accusing him of approving, was actually paid by you when you came in. Did you make the payment?
Honestly, I had decided that I would not join issues with Chief Akande. I have made my press briefing as regards the situation I met on ground. And if he has anything to add, I would only advise that he heeds the police request that he should be with them unless he is telling me that he has something to hide. That his action to me confirms that he who runs away from trial confesses the guilt. What we are saying is that the job was assumed to have been completed and when we discovered what was happening, that the money was not expended on the job that was awarded, that called for query. The money he told you I paid was the money legitimately due to the contractor on the basis of the contract certificate submitted. And when I discovered that the consultant was given money to the tune of N177 million, I asked what was the bearing of this on the project? Should the consultant be the contractor at the same time, moreso, when there was no contractual agreement?
Was there no contractual agreement?
There was none. A consultant that had no contractual agreement, how did he come to be holding government�s money to the tune of N177 million? How would I pay the consultant I did not hire? What was due to the contractor was paid him on the basis of the certificate submitted. But there were jobs not done when I got there. For example, the toilets were without windows or doors. They were not painted. No water, no light. After one week, I had to move back. And I asked questions. I asked why was the situation like this? And the man said these were the jobs he did. And I said there was a shortfall. That was when we discovered that the money was paid to the consultant. As a matter of fact, if Chief Akande would be truthful to his creator, he was telling me that it was imprest. That was what he told me in his house.
On the contracts for the furnishing of the Bola Ige House, Akande said you knew who should be held responsible, as those being accused now only executed sub-contracts of the main contract. Why didn�t you go for the contractor?
I am not the one calling for Chief Bisi Akande to see me now. The consultant was arrested and he made a statement to the police. It was as a result of his statement to the police that Akande, his SSG, Finance Commissioner and the manager, National Bank, Osogbo branch, were all invited. It was on the basis of the statement of the consultant. It is not Oyinlola that is prosecuting Chief Bisi Akande. He got a consultant who took money and did not render the services for the money he took. What he told the police I don�t know. What made the police to invite Akande and his Finance Commissioner and the SSG, I don�t know. So, he should be able to go and meet with the police. He has made a statement to the police before. Did he tell me when he was going to make the statement to the police?
But Akande believes Oladeji is being arm twisted to implicate him?
Ah! ah! Why should I arm twist him (Ladeji) to implicate him? What do I stand to gain? If it were not for the respect I have for the person of Akande, if I am to act on the basis of the way he acted to me, I wouldn�t be bothering my head going to let him know exactly what is going on. I went to his house twice. I had meetings with him on this thing. He knows exactly what he told me. He mandated Chief Tunji Abolade, his confidant to discuss with his co-accused. I told you that Alhaji Arisekola Alao too made efforts. But while he is trying to save his integrity, I cannot afford to loose my own.
Akande said Ladeji was used some years ago to implicate the former Vice-Chancellor of the then University of Ife, Prof. Oluwasanmi and could still be hired to implicate anybody?
No, no. Look, I never knew the consultant in my life. In his press release, he advised me not to give dubious people chance to see me in the office. If Lanre is dubious and Akande could give him N177 million, then, they are birds of the same feather. It takes a dubious man to give another dubious man N177 million.
Are there documentary evidence that the money in question was paid by Akande�s government and not yours and that the payment amounts to fraud?
I have given all the documents at my disposal to support my position during the press briefing. A technical committee was raised. They investigated and the report was tendered to journalists. The only thing I couldn�t give them were the statements all of them made to the police. And I advised journalists to get in touch with the police. I have only consulted him on the basis of the fact that this is my predecessor. I never had the benefit of good briefing before I took over, at least, from him. I had to call for briefings from ministries and parastatals.
So, how much would you say Akande stole, if you believe he stole government money?
I have never said Akande stole any money. All I have said is that the money they approved for the job has not been utilised for the purpose it was meant. And when I got the consultant, he told me that he got the money but it was used for the election campaign. So, it is between Akande and the consultant he hired. I never hired the man. He hired the man he now calls a dubious man. And it takes a dubious man to hire the other dubious man. The man said they got the money from him to fund his campaign. I never knew the consultant from Adams. It was the inconvenience I suffered when I moved into the office that made me ask questions and the revelations came out. I don�t want to be seen as somebody who wants to tarnish somebody�s image.
The Punch, Friday July 16, 2004
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The President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
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STOCK MARKET
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As at Thur, July 15, 2004
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8,250
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