Aregbesola accused of Embezzling N34 Billion Bailout State Funds

Chairman of Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State, Comrade Adeniyi Suleiman, has accused the Governor of the state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of diverting monthly allocations into his private pockets.
Suleiman stated this in Abuja yesterday when he led a protest to the National Assembly, calling on Senate president Bukola Saraki as well as the Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara to come to the aid of the state.
But in a swift reaction, another Civil Society Organisation loyal to Osun state government, Osun Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC), the rally of the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun state as insincere and politically motivated.
OCSC, in a press statement by its assistant publicity secretary, Comrade Abiodun Ibrahim, said that the rally was being sponsored by opposition party PDP to destabilize the state.
Suleiman said: “We are here based on the situation in Osun State. We are here to lodge our bitter complaint to the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“Osun State is now in a state of jeopardy because Governor Rauf Aregbesola embezzled, diverted, encroached and scrutinized Osun State resources into his own personal account and had refused to pay the salary of workers and the pension of pensioners, including gratuities.
“The people are not benefiting from the dividends of democracy in Osun State. That is why we are here to protest to the National Assembly through our petition. We are calling on the EFCC and the ICPC to take action. We have a lot of evidence which are contained in our petitions to the EFCC and ICPC.
“Aregbesola also diverted N34 billion bailout fund to his own personal account because he refused to use the money to pay salaries of workers, retirees and pensioners. All the projects he claimed to have executed are half done, he is only using propaganda to govern Osun State.”
Ibrahim in his counter remarks said: “The Chairman of the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun state, Mr Adeniyi Sulaimon, Director Media and Publicity of the group, Mr Seun Adeoye, Mr Olukanni Yemi Oyedeji and other members of the group were brought by Justice Olamide Folahanmi Oloyede as witnesses at the National Judicial Council (NJC) headquarters in Abuja on Monday for her defence against the petition written to the NJC by the Osun Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC) on her petition against Aregbesola.
“We are confused on the intention of both the judge and the witnesses at the NJC. Could it be that the judge mobilized them to Abuja for the protest or they were sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party, Osun state to show support for Justice Folahanmi Oloyede on her case?
“We wonder how a mission to serve as witness to a case turned to a political protest against the governor. We want members of the public to reason on the action of the judge and the members of the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun state.”
(Fred Itua, SUN ONLINE)