Alleged N463m fraud: CCB quizzes OSOPADEC leadership

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The Code of Conduct Bureau on Wednesday quizzed the leadership of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission over alleged misappropriation of funds belonging to the commission to the tune of N463m.

Those invited by the CCB included the secretary of the commission, Mrs Abike Bayo-Ilawole, and two other directors.

Bayo-Ilawole, who was among the public servants recently promoted to the position of permanent secretary in the state, was alleged to have been involved in the misappropriation of about N463m in the commission a few weeks ago.

She was specifically accused of diverting part of the money to a private bank account./ 0:00

Speaking with journalists after being questioned by CCB officials at the bureau’s office in Akure, Ondo State, on Wednesday, Bayo-Ilawole said she was invited over allegations of fund misappropriation but maintained that she was innocent.

She said, “I was invited by the Code of Conduct over alleged fund misappropriation. We just started the investigation. The allegation is about N463m. I told them nothing of such happened, and the record will speak for itself.”

On the allegation of diverting money to a personal account, she said, “I said the record will speak for itself. It is not true. The one they quoted, that money was sent to my father’s account, was for a long-term project.

“My father was a contractor then, and it was not up to that amount. But the record will speak for itself, as I said.

“The two officers whose names were mentioned supervised other colleagues. It could be their allowances or what they needed to spend on the project.

“They should allow me to go through the records so we can separate the issues and know what actually transpired. One major thing is that the fund was not released at once; it was over a period of time.