*Minister debunks as lies allegation that he withdrew the fund

Kayode Fayemi: Minister of Solid Minerals

By Eromosele Ebhomele

Nigeria’s Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, says the Ekiti state governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, should rather bury his head in shame for attempting to stain him with issues of corruption even though the same Fayose knows he should be held liable for what happened to the Universal Basic Education Fund Commission fund that was supposed to come to the state.

In an email to TheNEWS and P.M. NEWS and signed by Olayinka Oyebode, Special Assistant (Media) to Fayemi, the minister narrated how Fayose scuttled what should have been a major success for the state when he warned banks in the country against lending to his  administration  in relation to counterpart funding to access the UBEC fund.

A group, Vanguard for Credible Representation, had on Sunday made available a petition it sent to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, over alleged misappropriation of N852, 936,713.92 counterpart fund belonging to the state under the Dr. Kayode Fayemi administration.

The fund, as stated in the petition dated 3 March, 2016, signed by its Chairman, Comrade Akinloye Oyeniyi, and sent by Lere Olayinka, a media aide to Fayose, was meant for the Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, in the state.

The group claimed that as governor of Ekiti State, Fayemi, in contravention of Section 11(2) of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act, 2004 authorised the illegal withdrawal of the a sum of N852, 936,713.92 from SUBEB Access Bank Account Number 0065385694 on 8 October, 2014, eight days to the end of his tenure.

The amount, the petitioners alleged, was counterpart fund paid by the Ekiti state government to access the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, 2012 Marching Grant of N852, 936,793.12.

Fayemi agreed that the counterpart fund had been secured from the bank under his administration to access the UBEC fund but that the bank withdrew the fund after Fayose, who was yet to be sworn in to office then, threatened not to pay back any loan secured by the outgoing administration.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the allegation of illegal withdrawal of the UBEC fund levelled against the immediate past administration is false in its entirety,” Fayemi said.

The Minister said the truth was further attested to by the UBEC’s Deputy Executive Secretary, Dr. Yakubu Gambo, in his presentation at the National Assembly, when the latter told the legislators that the bank withdrew its money when the government lost the 2014 governorship election for fear that the incoming government might not honour the terms of repayment.

Dr. Gambo had reportedly told the Senators: “the sitting government that took the loan from the bank to provide the counterpart to access what is in the coffers of the Federal Government lost an election. And the bank decided that the state had not met up the requirement for pay back. And so as not to have problem with the incoming government, they decided to withdraw their money.

“So Ekiti state went ahead to implement part of the action plan with the N826 million assessed from UBEC. When we went out for monitoring and we discovered these anomalies, we sanctioned Ekiti State by ensuring that until they formalise and bring back that matching grant they will no longer assess any form of funding from UBEC. And that is the position now.”

Fayemi explained in the sent email that the sanction handed Ekiti by UBEC was as a result of Fayose’s threat to financial institutions in Ekiti, which made them withdraw support from the then government.

Fayose had called bank chiefs to a meeting shortly after winning the election and warned them that he was not going to repay any loan entered with the then outgoing government.

“This development, coupled with his reputation as a highly misguided ruler had made many financial institutions, including the one in question to review existing relationships.

“If Fayose had behaved in a responsible manner, the banks would have had no reason to withdraw support for the government, the project would have been concluded, contractors paid and the state would have been in a position to assess another fund in line with the UBEC regulations.

“The painful part is that the state is being denied UBEC funding because of gross irresponsibility of the incumbent government,” Fayemi adding: “it is on record that when the Fayemi administration came in 2010, SUBEB counterpart funding of 2008 was outstanding and contracts were already awarded by the previous government led by Engr. Segun Oni.

“Knowing that government is a continuum, the Fayemi government had  supported all that the Engr. Segun Oni government left behind and funded the SUBEB projects through loan arrangements from the bank which was paid back on monthly basis. Theses procedures remained for the 2009 and 2010 SUBEB projects.”

He also said as governor, he funds were judiciously utilised and that this is evident in the construction of primary school buildings and renovation of junior secondary schools among others.

“The Fayose administration should show some decency, refrain from peddling falsehood and face governance with every sense of responsibility,” he fired saying Fayose’s administration is a case of a discredited government desperately looking for who to discredit.

According to the Minister, if indeed the ICPC is investigating the UBEC fund in Ekiti, the commission should be allowed to do its job as the much that is expected of the Fayose and his government is to present its case with facts and await the outcome of the investigation.