The immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, has denied any involvement in the N9.9bn fraud said to have been discovered by the Econo
The immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, has denied any involvement in the N9.9bn fraud said to have been discovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Ambode said none of his accounts contained N9.9bn let alone being frozen by the EFCC. He said in the spirit of Sallah and having served Lagos State well, his record was clear.
In a statement on Friday by his media aide, Habib Aruna, Ambode said he did not intend to join issues with the anti-corruption agency as there had not been any communication between him and the commission on the issue. He added that he, however, wanted to clear his name.
According to the former governor, the accounts frozen by the Federal High Court belong to the Lagos State Government and not him or any individual.
“Those accounts were opened in the course of normal operations by the Lagos State Government for its administrative purposes and not for the former governor’s personal transactions as was being wrongly insinuated and have been operated to ensure smooth operations of government activities by previous and present administrations.
“The former governor was not and will never be involved in any unauthorized use of government property and resources. We strongly believe that after four demanding years as Chief Executive of Lagos State, Mr. Ambode is entitled to some deserved rest with his family and loved ones without the unwarranted attacks on his well-earned reputation,” the statement said.
Recall that a few days ago, the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the freezing of three bank accounts allegedly belonging to the Lagos State Government over an alleged N9.9bn fraud. The accounts domiciled in First City Monument Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank are numbered 5617984012, 0060949275 and 1011691254, respectively, following an ex parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The EFCC had prayed the judge to freeze the accounts all of which were operated during Ambode’s tenure, pending the conclusion of investigations and possible prosecution of the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Lagos State, Adewale Adesanya, for money laundering.
