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The All Progressive Congress (APC), has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) , and the Nigeria Financial Intelligent Unit (NFIU) to freeze Bayelsa state government account and arrest the state Commissioner for Finance, Maxwell Ebibai, for alleged suspicious withdrawal of N17.5bn by government proxies recently, and for allegedly participating in the ‘illegal withdrawals’.
This was contained in a statement release by the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, in Abuja.
The APC Spokesman called for arrest of Commissioner for Finance, Maxwell Ebibai, for allegedly overseeing the said ‘illegal withdrawals’.
Nabena categorically called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to take on the task of unraveling the whereabouts of the said funds, which he alleged were withdrawn on the orders of the state governor, Chief Seriake Dickson.
According to the party spokesman, who is also an indigene of Bayelsa state, the state government, under the watch of Governor Seriake Dickson, had engaged in the alleged illegal disbursement of the said sum with the intention of using same to prosecute the upcoming governorship election.
“In the last two weeks the Bayelsa state government has, in highly suspicious circumstances, made several withdrawals to the tune of N17.5 billion, without any corresponding project to justify the withdrawals. Insider reports we received stated that Governor Seriake Dickson approved the illegal withdrawals to fund the election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state.
“The EFCC and the NFIU must urgently freeze the state government accounts to stop further illegal withdrawals. They must also track down the already withdrawn N17.5 billion and arrest the State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Maxwell Ebibai who oversaw the illegal withdrawals.
“Our sources told us that some of the cash is stashed in the Governor’s Toru-Orua country home. Others have been laundered by the Commissioner for Finance, through the Bayelsa Development and Investment Corporation (BDIC).
“When I spoke to journalists last week, I had raised alarm over the Governor openly boasting that he has the money to pay the police and army, including their retirement benefits, if they work for him in the elections.
“It is now clear that Governor Dickson is bent on using the federal allocation meant for Bayelsans to rig the election and install his stooge.
“He also plans to use public funds to sponsor new militant camps and the illegal activities of the state security outfit, Operation Doo Akpo, which he is using to harass political opponents in his party PDP and APC members, supporters and leaders in the state ahead of the governorship election”, he said.
