••• Also Says, 'We'll Clear Ourselves In Court'
| The Daily Crucible | Monday, September 5, 2022
By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta
Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Rt. Honourable Kunle Oluomo, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to take him, the Clerk of the House and the Accountant to court if the agency had anything against the three of them.
Rt. Honourable Oluomo was arrested on Thursday morning at the Mohammed International Airport, Lagos by the EFCC operatives and flown to Abuja for questioning over allegations of corruption and financial impropriety.
He was however granted an administrative bail and released on Friday. The Speaker is also expected to report to the agency's zonal office in Lagos for further clarification pertaining to the matter being investigated by the agency and involves Oluomo and two others.
However, speaking on the development, Oluomo told The Daily Crucible that the matter has to do with a petition written against him by an aggrieved member of the Ogun Assembly.
He said the allegation that he and two others squandered N2.4bn as alleged by the petitioner lacked basis and record to substantiate claims, adding that the said amount was what the house could cumulatively collect in about two years.
He wondered how it could be possible for anybody to squander such an amount of money when every honourable member of the house was collecting his entitled allowances, explaining that this informed why he advised the anti - graft agency to charge him and others to court if they had anything against them.
Oluomo said: "There is no problem, it was the petition an aggrieved member wrote to the EFCC, he now petitioned the Zonal office again probably he thought they are compromised against him and that he wrote petition but they didn't go there and they didn't arrest me, so that was what happened.
"So, I told them(EFCC) that you can't arrest me, I went there to clarify it to them (in Abuja) that it is wrong for them to try to arrest me. I told them that they can't arrest me because I have taken them(EFCC) to court. I said I have taken you to court and you should have allowed the court to first decide on the matter before you take any step but that not withstanding, I'm out now.
"The situation now is normal and I will go back there and I'm saying they should charge us to court if they have anything against us so that we can go clear ourselves in court. That is the right and proper thing to do. You know I have been given an administrative bail and I don't want a situation where they will keep the file and when politics comes, you will go bring the file out again. I don't like that.
"The best thing is, take the matter to court. You said that myself, my clerk and the accountant that we squandered N2.4bn. I said Ah ! That is the money the house would collect in about two years. I asked, 'Is there anybody in the house that says he has not been collecting his allowances either as a staff or honourable member of the house ?' No record (of such). I asked, is it not served in the record before you that I have a single account that money enters every month and where it is remitted to every member? And I said when all those information are there and you are still doing this(trying to arrest me), so, let's go to court to resolve that.
"So, I'm expecting that we should go to court even though our own case is already in court against them(EFCC) which is coming up this month. Let them also take us to court. I'm the one that first took them to court. So, let them also take us to court if they have anything against us."
Meanwhile, EFCC has filed an 11 count charge of conspiracy, forgery and stealing against Oluomo and three others.
The charge was filed by the EFFC’s Lagos Head of Legal Monitoring Unit, Rotimi Oyedepo at the Federal High Court, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
A copy of the charge sheet dated and filed Sept 1st, 2022. Reads
Count 1 of the charge reads, “that you Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo, Oladayo Samuel, Adeyemo Adedeji Taiwo and Adeyanju Nimota Amoke (now at large) sometimes in 2019 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this honorable Court conspired amongst yourselves to use the total sum of N2,475,000,000,000.00 (Two Billion, Four Hundred and Seventy Five Million Naira) which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activity to wit: stealing from the treasury of Ogun State House of Assembly and you thereby committed an offence contrary to sections 18 (a), 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.
The Commission plans says to assemble no fewer than 10 witnesses to testify and tender documents and exhibits.
The list of witnesses includes Adamu Usman Yusuf, Otitoju Moses Kolawale, Yazid Ahmad Bawa, Anyanwu Bright, Adekunbi Mojibola, Munkaila Huzaifa and Idowu Oluseyi Olarenwaju.
Others are representatives of Ashkash Nigeria limited, representatives of Obasanjo Holdings limited(managers of NNPC Mega Station) and representatives of Gateway Bank limited.
Find below details of the 11count charge.
COUNT 1
That you Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo, Oladayo Samuel, Adeyemo Adedeji Taiwo and Adeyanju Nimota Amoke (now at large) sometimes in 2019 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this honorable Court conspired amongst yourselves to USE the total sum of N2,475,000,000,000.00 (Two Billion, Four Hundred and Seventy Five Million Naira) which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activity to wit: stealing from the treasury of Ogun State House of Assembly and you thereby committed an offence contrary to sections 18 (a), 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.
COUNT2
That you Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo, Oladayo Samuel, Adeyemo Adedeji Taiwo and Adeyanju Nimota Amoke (now at large) between June,2019 and June,2020 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this honorable Court used the total sum of N900,000,000.00 (Nine Hundred Million Naira) which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activities to wit: stealing from the treasury of Ogun State House of Assembly and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.
COUNT 3
That you Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo, Oladayo Samuel, Adeyemo Adedeji Taiwo and Adeyanju Nimota Amoke (now at large) between July,2020 and July,2021 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this honorable Court used the total sum of N900,000,000.00 (Nine Hundred Million Naira) which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activities to wit: stealing from the treasury of Ogun State House of Assembly and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.
COUNT 4
That you Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo, Oladayo Samuel, Adeyemo Adedeji Taiwo and Adeyanju Nimota Amoke (now at large) between August,2021 and December,2021 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this honorable Court used the total sum of N375,000,000.00 (Three Hundred and Seventy Five Million Naira) which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activities to wit: stealing from the treasury of Ogun State House of Assembly and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.
COUNT 5
That you Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo, Oladayo Samuel, Adeyemo Adedeji Taiwo and Adeyanju Nimota Amoke (now at large) between January,2022 and April,2022 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this honorable Court used the total sum of N300,000,000.00 (Three Hundred Million Naira) which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activities to wit: stealing from the treasury of Ogun State House of Assembly and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.
COUNT 6
That you Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo or about the 12th day of September,2019 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this honorable Court TRANSFERRED the sum of N2,000,000.00 (Two Million Naira) to BENGRAPHICS, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activities to wit: stealing from the treasury of Ogun State House of Assembly and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.
COUNT 7
That you Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo or about the 12th day of September,2019 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this honorable Court TRANSFERRED the sum of N1,100,000.00 (One Million, One Hundred Thousand Naira) to BENGRAPHICS, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activities to wit: stealing from the treasury of Ogun State House of Assembly and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.
COUNT 8
That you, Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo, Oladayo Samuel, Adeyemo Adedeji Taiwo and Adeyanju Nimota Amoke (now at large) on or about the 22nd day of August, 2019 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court fraudulently forged Ogun State of Nigeria General Claim Form with reference No: OGHA/4/AUG/2019 wherein you claimed that the sum of N10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira) was received by one Adewunmi Tunde and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 1(2) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act.
COUNT 9
That you, Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo, Oladayo Samuel, Adeyemo Adedeji Taiwo and Adeyanju Nimota Amoke (now at large) on or about the 30th day of May, 2020 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court fraudulently forged Ogun State of Nigeria General Claim Form with reference No: OGHA/11/MAY/2020 wherein you claimed that the sum of N30,250,000.00 (Thirty Million Two hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) was received by one ADESINA ABIMBOLA and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 1(2) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act.
COUNT 10
That you, Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo, Oladayo Samuel, Adeyemo Adedeji Taiwo and Adeyanju Nimota Amoke (now at large) on or about the 21st day of January, 2019 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court fraudulently forged Ogun State of Nigeria General Claim Form with reference No: OGHA/3/JAN/2019 wherein you claimed that the sum of N12,000,000.00 (Twelve Million Naira) was received by one BABATUNDE ABIOLA and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 1(2) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act.
COUNT 11
That you, Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo, Oladayo Samuel, Adeyemo Adedeji Taiwo and Adeyanju Nimota Amoke (now at large) on or about the 26th day of January, 2019 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court fraudulently forged Ogun State of Nigeria General Claim Form with reference No: OGHA/4/JAN/2019 wherein you claimed that the sum of N16,000,000.00 (Sixteen Million Naira) was received by one ADEBOWALE JAMIU and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 1(2) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act
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