From LAYI OLANREWAJU, Ilorin
Former Commissioner for Works in Kwara state in the first tenure of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Rotimi Ilyasu, has denied speculation that he was invited and grilled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged financial misappropriation over projects he handled while he served the state government.
Ilyasu while speaking with members of the Correspondents’ chapel of the NUJ in the state, yesterday said that he has not received any invitation from either the EFCC or any anti-graft agency in the country since he left office.
Ilyasu, who was the Kwara state commissioner between 2019 and 2023, is a son to one of the stalwarts of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Moro Local Government a
Area of the state, described the speculations as parts of antics of political rivals in the area, with the aim is to pull him down.
“I have never received invitation from the EFCC or any antigraft agency in the country since I left office. It’s all political. Their calculation is that I’ve become a political threat. They see that I’m bigger now and they want to pull me down. It should not all be about that. Before now, I’ve resolved within me that I’ll not be a disappointment to my people, especially, youth in the state, being a youth myself”.
“All I want to do is to help my people in Moro Local Government as one of the greatest beneficiaries of this administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in the last four years, I only want to give back to my people,” he said.
Speaking on the quality of Tanke flying over bridge, which started during his tenure, the former commissioner said “The quality is superb, verified and certified by all the appropriate professional bodies like Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Universities of Ilorin and Omu Aran Laboratory. The surface in some part of the bridge may look rough, but no sincere person can doubt the quality of the work looking from the material used.
Recalled that an online platform had published that the EFCC invited the immediate past commissioner over an allegation bordering on N20 billion said to have been misappropriated under his watch.
The former commissioner, who defended Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for the delay in appointing a new Works commissioner, three weeks after the inauguration of a new set of members of the state executive council, said that appointments are the prerogative of the state governor.
“He even drives commissioners to work and work well too. Permanent Secretaries can work too so are engineers in ministries. Projects are going on in the state, presently. The governor can always get things done. And work is going on, commissioner or no commissioner”the former governor’s aide retorted.