Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger state has urged Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate alleged diversion of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) 181 million dollar loan by the State Government.
Bello made the call at the flag off of All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign, ahead of Local Government poll in the state, at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Hall in Minna, on Wednesday.
It would be recalled that former Gov. Babangida Aliyu had in October accused the governor of embezzling the loan meant for the construction of Minna-Bida dual carriage way.
“The IBD loan has not been released yet, therefore, I am inviting the EFCC to come and investigate the allegation.
“When we assumed office, we didn’t meet any money like that in the handover notes and we have not seen any bank that has received such money.
“But since someone said the money was paid, we will have to investigate to know who received the money,” he said.
Bello denied receiving the money and called on the EFCC to investigate the matter.
He threatened to take legal action against those accusing him of diverting the money if the allegation turned out to be false.
He called on them to provide evidence to government to enable the EFCC carry out its investigation.
He explained that the last administration started the process for the loan by appointing a consultant to provide the road design, but failed to pay the consultancy fee before leaving office.
“As I am talking to you, the IDB is still expecting us to provide environmental impact access and we are still working on it and the board of the bank is yet to meet before releasing the money,” he added.
Bello, however, called on the people of the state to come out en masse and vote for candidates of their choice during the LG poll.
