The beleaguered speaker of Ogun State House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo has avered publicly that all allegations levied against him in his ongoing trial for corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC are incorrect.
EFCC had last Wednesday arraigned Oluomo alongside the Director of Finance of the State Assembly, Oladayo Samuel, and the Clerk of the House, Adeyemo Taiwo on 11-count charges bordering on conspiracy, forgery and stealing of alleged N4.4 billion.
However, all the defendants pleaded not guilty to all the 11-counts charges and the court granted the Speaker and the other accused persons bail.
Speaking at the Complex of Ogun State House of Assembly on Friday, Oluomo claimed he was innocent of the allegations leveled against him by the EFCC.
He also confirmed that the allegations were contained in a petition written against him by the impeached former Deputy Speaker of the house , Dare Kadiri.
The Speaker, who is a lawyer added that charges 10 and 11 filed against him related to activities that occurred before he became the Speaker of the Assembly.
He said, “By law, I am not the Accounting Officer of the House, for emphasis, the House under my leadership operates only one bank account since 2019, through which running cost and allowances are paid directly into the bank accounts of individual Honourable members and staff of the House including the petitioner” he said.
He also defended his refusal to honour invitation of the EFCC before he was arrested at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
“I also like to say that the refusal to honour the initial invitation of EFCC was because of the method adopted by EFCC which is against section 36 of the Constitution and we challenged it in court. This is in the public domain as it was widely reported but the EFCC refused to wait for the pronouncement in that case before taking further steps, despite having joined issues with us in court.”
But the impeached Deputy Speaker of the house , Dare Kadiri has described all the allegations levied against him in Oluomo's rebuttal as false and an afterthought but also prejudicial.
In a release e-signed by the Ijebu North II State Constituency lawmaker, he said: "I am constrained to respond to a statement credited to the Speaker of Ogun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Olakunle Oluomo, to the effect that my petitions are connected to his current prosecution for corruption.
"Ordinarily, I would not have bothered joining issue with Mr Speaker in order not to prejudice the EFCC charges pending against him before the Court.
"But since he categorically mentioned my name and linked me with his ordeal, I need to briefly set the record straight.
"I and Rt. Hon. Olakunle Oluomo have come a long way together.
We came into the 9th Assembly as ranking members, having been among the few lawmakers that returned from the previous Assembly.
"There is no gainsaying that I played active role in his emergence as Speaker, believing he would provide effective, accountable and transparent leadership. But, unfortunately, he derailed.
"When I realised his compromised direction, I tried my best to caution him. Rather than heed my several genuine warnings, he desperately orchestrated my removal without recourse to due process. However, the rest, as they say, is history.
"Now, on the matter before the Court, I believe the Court will do the needful. I equally hope the case is given a speedy hearing and timely disposed off as Nigerians are eagerly waiting for its outcome.
"Owing to the sensitivity of this case, I would have expected Mr Speaker to keep a low profile after being granted bail. Instead, he made needless imputation about me and started hypocritical advocacy about rule of law as if he indeed believes in its sanctity.
"Those who sincerely believe in the rule of law will simply honour invitations by law enforcement agencies and will never decline such under any guise.
"Some think the good people of Ogun State and other well-meaning Nigerians are as gullible as they erroneously conceived.
"Well, it's not too difficult to see through lies. If any structure is built on the foundation of lie, it will surely crumble.
"A Yoruba proverb says: *"Eyan meji o kin padanu iro; ti eni ton ban paa fun o ba mo, eni ton pa mo."* Meaning _two people cannot be casualties of a lie. If the person who is being told the lie does not know, then the person telling the lie knows.
"Truth is like flame, no matter how hard you cover it, it will always come out. It might not be immediate, but it will definitely come out.
"Those who breached the law with impunity must understand that they can only run, they can't hide.
"The anti-graft agency has already established a prima facie case, hence the present prosecution. Rantings cannot change this.
"I don't even know why Mr Speaker is crying over spilt milk. You masterminded my impeachment; took me to court on two charges bordering on libel at the State High Court and Federal High Court which I have been dealing with since last year; deprived me of all my legislative functions and did not allocate any committee to me until two weeks ago; accused me of collecting gratification from transport unions; lied against me before the Awujale over the Bill on Traditional Rulers Installation and Burial Rites and also misinformed Governor Dapo Abiodun that I instigated lawmakers not to participate in the supplementary budget passage.
"These are just few instances of your devious schemes.
"Many people have said if they were Mr Speaker, they would cover their faces in shame and go.on self-exile instead of simulating innocence all over the place. I couldn't agree more.
"At this point, I advise Mr Speaker to seek forgiveness from God and be honest with himself. Pretensions and perjury can no longer help".
Signed:
*Rt. Hon. Oludare Kadiri*
Ijebu North II State Constituency
10th September, 2022
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