An Ibadan chief, Jelili Adekunle Kareem, has described reports that he was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as mischievous and misleading.
Recall that reports in some sections of the media on Wednesday claimed that the chief, popularly known as Mogaji Adanla, had been arrested by the anti-graft agency for his alleged involvement in a financial scam worth over N100 million.
Speaking with newsmen at his Ibadan home on Thursday, he maintained that the report was sponsored to defame him by the immediate past deputy governor of the state, Remi Olaniyan.
Recall that during the impeachment proceedings of Olaniyan, which occurred last week, Adanla was a principal witness to the criminal allegations that led to his indictment.
“It’s not unexpected of us. If I am a key witness in the lawful impeachment of a deputy governor. After that you don’t go home to sleep. All I know about is construction, before you embark on any project you do risk management whereby you identify the risk and mitigate against them. This is part of the hazard already identified,” he said.
Speaking on the allegation that he was arrested yesterday, he noted that even though he regularly visits the EFCC office in Ibadan since a bogus petition was submitted against him, he was not arrested yesterday.
“I was invited by the EFCC on the 17th of december based on the bogus petition sponsored by someone that used to be powerful in this present government and I was interrogated. After that I felt so aggrieved so I submitted a petition to the House of Assembly regarding his intimidation and corrupt dealings
“I got the contract to reconstruct the then deputy governor’s lodge but all I was getting from him was to send this money to this, send this money to that and during that cause, we ran out of money to execute the project,” he added.