By ALABA OLUSOLA OKE

The chairman, secretary and two officials of the Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC) on Wednesday appeared before the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) over alleged N463 million fraud in the commission.

Those that appeared before the CCB are the chairman of commission, Mr Biyi Poroye; Secretary, Dr Abike Bayo-Ilawole; Mr Olukorede Adeshina-Oladapo and Mr Dare Oretan.

Speaking with newsmen in Akure, Bayo-Ilawole said that the fund was not missing as alleged but used for various projects approved by Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

“The allegation has been misappropriation of fund. I think, maybe N463 million. And to me, I just felt the record will speak for itself, and that has been my response.

“I told them nothing of such happened, and the record will speak for itself. Like the one they quoted that it was sent to my father’s account, it was a long-term project.

“The man was a contractor then and was never up to that term, but the record will speak for itself like I said.

“Then the two officers’ names there were captured. One or two things that I know about it was that they supervised other colleagues.

“It could be their allowances, it could be allowance of officers or what they needed to spend on the project. So they should allow me to go through the record and we will separate this and we will know what actually transferred.

“But one of the major things that is obvious is that this fund was not at a go, it was for the period of time.

“We are not talking about fund missing. It’s not missing. The projects that the money were meant for, were done, in fact completed. We got necessary approval for the projects,” she said.

Also speaking, one of the invited officials, Mr Olukorede Adeshina-Oladapo, Director, Project Planning and Development, OSOPADEC, said that there was an approval from the state governor to carry out the direct labour projects.

Adeshina-Oladapo explained that the money was sent to his personal bank account to carry out 21 school renovations and other projects in the mandate area of Ilaje Local Government Area of the state.

“The transactions were done by direct labour. And during the course of renovating, since it’s direct labour and we are going to control the spending, they were sending the money, some of the money came to my account.

“It is just to disburse for labour, to procure materials. The money didn’t come in bulk, it was coming in bits and pieces,” he said.

According to him, it is the practice in the commission to pay money into personal bank account for direct labour projects.

Also, Mr Dare Oretan, the Deputy Director of Project Monitoring and Evaluation at OSOPADEC, said that the money transferred to his bank account was meant for direct labour projects to renovate schools at the riverine area of the state.

Oretan added that some of the projects had been executed while others were ongoing.

In her words while speaking to newsmen, the Chief Superintendent of CCB, Mrs R. O. Akingbemila, said that it is a breach of code of conduct to pay money from the commission to personal bank accounts of individuals, hence the invitation.

“It’s a case of fraud, involving the flow of about N463 million into their personal accounts, which is a breach of the code of conduct.

“You don’t send money to a private account from the Commission’s account. That is the purpose of inviting them. And they have explained their own part, but it’s a follow-up something.

“We have told them to bring some documents, including their bank statements and some other documents that will back it up. So we’re expecting them on Monday by 12p.m,” she said. (NAN, excluding headline)

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