Ola Olukoyede, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has refuted a claim that he met with a former South-South governor and his predecessor 48 hours prior to their departure for the All Progressives Congress.
The denial came after statements made by Paul Ibe, a spokesperson for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, in a recent Channels Television interview.
Ibe claimed that 48 hours before their defection to the APC, the chairman of the EFCC and the solicitor general met with a former and current South-South governor.
Additionally, he asserted that the gathering was held at a South-South state government lodge.
Sheriff Oborevwori, the governor of Delta State, and his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, were rumoured to have defected from the PDP to the APC in April.
Reacting to the allegation, the EFCC in a statement on Friday said it was “outraged” by Ibe’s “unfounded claims”, describing it as “patently fabricated”.
“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is outraged by the unfounded claims of Mr Paul Ibe, spokesperson to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, alleging that Ola Olukoyede, Executive Chairman, held a secret meeting with an unnamed politician.
“His allegations of the Executive Chairman EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, and the Solicitor General of the Federation’s alleged meeting with an unnamed governor forty-eight hours before his defection to the ruling All People’s Congress, APC, are patently fabricated and in bad taste.
Olukoyede has stressed it at several fora that he is apolitical and the EFCC is totally wired against partisan tendencies,” the statement wrote.
Olukoyede enjoined the public to disregard the allegation, as it exists only in “Ibe’s imagination”.
