Former Oyo State Governor Rashidi
Ladoja has written to Governor
Abiola Ajimobi, seeking a retraction
of his alleged refund of N 500 million
to the coffers of the state government
from the proceeds of government
shares sales during his tenure .
Ladoja , who is the governorship
candidate of Accord , also threatened
to sue Ajimobi if he failed to do so
and apologise within seven days .
Ajimobi had said in an interview last
week that Ladoja and others involved
in the sale of shares of the state
government in 2007 , refunded N 500
million to the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission ( EFCC) , adding
that his administration received the
fund from the commission .
But the former governor , in a
newspaper advertorial on Tuesday,
denied the refund and challenged
Ajimobi to prove his claim . He also
threatened to sue the governor .
In response , Ajimobi published all the
correspondence between the
government and the EFCC as well as
the cheques with which Ladoja and
others made the refund in an
advertorial on Wednesday .
Ladoja ’ s letter, through his lawyer,
Biodun Abdu - Raheem , reads: “ For
the umpteenth time , our client denies
in its entirety the allegation by your
government that he made the refund
to the EFCC .
“ Our client demands of you to make
available any document directly
tending to show that he made such
payments and for the purpose
alleged , that is , plea bargaining .
“ We reiterate that none of the
documents published so far
substantiates the fact that our client
is directly involved in the allegation .
We wish to note that going by the
contents of your letters exhibited in
the said publications , that is , 6 th
September , 2013 ; November 2013;
26 th November , 2013 and 9 th
January , 2014
“ There is nothing to show that as at
10 th January , 2014 , when the last
letter was said to have been received
by the EFCC and till date that your
request for “revalidation ” ,
“ repatriation ” and “release ” as
variously requested by your
government in your said letters have
been acceded to or granted by the
EFCC .
“ We also note that all the
aforementioned letters are at your
instance and none was at the
instance of the EFCC in order to know
that any of your requests was granted
at all . Could it have been that the
non- inclusion of the EFCC ’ s letters
was a deliberate act or omission on
the part of government ?
“ Drawing from the above , it is very
clear from your last letter dated 9 th
January , 2014 that the government
was at best still pursuing the
revalidation , repatriation and release
of the cheques and their money value
as at that date .
“ How come then that the cheques
which were yet to be revalidated as of
January , 2014 bore various dates in
November , 2013 and presumed to
have been cashed same period? This
scenario raises more questions than
it actually answers .
“ Your Excellency , we have the
authority of our client to specifically
request you to produce to the reading
public the paper where our client
‘ spelt out how he spent the proceeds
of Oyo State money ’ , particularly the
shares of his wives, children , cronies
and himself .
“ Furthermore, we hereby demand of
your government to produce the said
papers as alleged , the approval of
EFCC that our client made the refund
of N 500 million as alleged , the EFCC
approval of repatriation of the sum of
money within seven days from the
receipt of this letter or in the
alternative a retraction of the said
offending publication and letter of
apology addressed to our client and
published in the newspapers .
“ Take notice sir , that failure to act as
requested above , we have the
instruction of our client to seek
redress in court . ”
‘ Explain your roles in N 500m saga ’
A group, Youths Against Corruption
League (YACL ) , has called on former
Oyo State Governors - Otunba
Adebayo Alao - Akala and Senator
Rashidi Ladoja- to explain their roles
in the alleged embezzlement of public
funds , which culminated in the refund
of N 500million for a plea bargain.
The group in a statement by its
president and Secretary, Adewale
Bashorun and Adedeji Bankole , said
it becomes a moral burden on Ladoja
to seek re - election , having been
enmeshed in complicity for financial
impropriety .
Governor Abiola Ajimobi said Ladoja
refunded N 500million to the
Economic and Financial Crime
Commission ( EFCC ) to secure a plea
bargain. The governor added that
Alao - Akala also ‘ blew ’ N 3 billion
government funds within the last
week of his administration in May
2011 .
The group said: “Where are our
values as Yoruba sons and
daughters ? As a Yoruba man , once
you have a label of ‘ thief ’ attached to
you , you are alienated completely
and nobody would be inclined to
associate with you .
“ In the past , parents would teach
their children and younger ones the
values of the society most prominent
of which is honesty .
“ But regrettably today, it ’ s the other
way round as we the youth are now
teaching our supposed fathers moral
values .
‘‘ It ’ s unfortunate that our leaders
would steal our common wealth and
at the end of the day use part of it to
deceive us. ’’ http://thenationonlineng.net/new/alleged-n500m-refund-ladoja-threatens-sue-ajimobi/

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As old as Ladoje is. Does he not know that Ajimobi has immunity and cannot be sued?

Was he not a governor once? He knows how these things happen na