Ondo Assembly Probes ₦4.3bn In Secret Account, Summons Commissioner

The Ondo State House of Assembly has commenced investigation into the source of the N4.3bn allegedly discovered in a secret bank account by the state government.

The money was said to have been deposited into Zenith Bank account by one of the past administrations.

The money said to have been in the said account for over 10 years was allegedly withdrawn and spent by the Rotimi Akeredolu administration without informing the Assembly.

The legislators have summoned the Commissioner for Finance, Wale Akinterinwa, and Accountant General of the state, Laolu Akindolire, to appear before them on Thursday to explain how the money was found and withdrawn by the executive without their approval.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Bamidele Oloyeloogun, directed Akinterinwa and Akindolire to come with all documents relating to the transactions and the accrued interest.

Akinterinwa pledged to comply with the instructions.

Speaking after Friday’s plenary, the Chairman, House Committee on Public Acounts, Ademola Edamisan, said the matter would be thoroughly investigated.

The lawmaker, who represents Irele Constituency, said since the money was in a fixed account for over 10 year, the assembly was interested in the accrued interest.

He said, “They (executive) claimed they have recovered N4.3bn from the money but the committee is keenly interested in the actual interest generated for over 10 years and we requested comprehensive details of the account.

“The committee is interested in full details of how the account has been operated over the years, who authorised the opening of the account, who are the signatories and when was the account opened.

“We hope the commissioner and the AG will come out with comprehensive details of the account, so we will be able to calculate the cost running interest so far in the account.