Edo Lawyers Kick Over Obaseki’s Swearing-in Of New AG

The Network of Edo Lawyers has raised the alarm over Governor Godwin Obaseki’s attempt to “withdraw government money at every cost, this time the swearing-in of a new Accountant-General to enable him to get more money from banks and agencies.”

In a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the group of lawyers called on the anti-graft agency and the Nigeria Police Force to freeze all Edo State Government accounts as “Governor Obaseki has gone berserk, pulling out all revenues that belong to the State, six days to leaving office.”

The statement signed by Julius Ilenkhe noted that the governor swore in a new Accountant-General on Thursday to enable him to withdraw Edo State’s remaining resources from some banks.

He said, “Obaseki has also gone on a last-minute looting spree to collect all Edo State resources from government agencies, especially the revenue-generating bodies.

These monies belong to Edo state and not Obaseki. He tried to use a supplementary budget, which the Speaker of Edo state turned down.

“Now he wants to clear the state accounts in all the banks by appointing a new Accountant General since the former Accountant General was cooling off with EFCC over the suspicious withdrawal of over N14 billion last week.

“The race to protect Edo state must be collective as one man cannot destroy the state because of his high appetite for public funds put under his care.

“Since he cannot manage his greed, it is essential that all security agencies and the good people of the state and Nigeria join hands to prevent this arbitrary looting of public funds by one man.

“Obaseki is not spending money on any transition process, so what does he need these billions of naira for if not for his aggrandisement.”