Former ambassador Oluwafisan Bankale has said that an ex-minister of power Olu Agunloye has been detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
On December 12, Mr Agunloye was declared wanted by the anti-graft agency over alleged fraud. He is facing questions about his role in the $6 billion Mambila hydropower contract.
Bankale said in a statement made available to The Eagle on Sunday that Agunloye, a former boss of the Federal Road Safety Corps, reported to the EFCC on December 13.
The former editor of the defunct Sketch newspaper said the ex-minister was cooperating with the EFCC.
His statement said, “At this point in time, I am overawed by the impulse to weigh in, by way of this simple public statement, on Dr. Olu Agunloye as it relates to the probe on the Mambilla Power Project by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). It is to achieve two aims.
EFCC declares ex-minister Olu Agunloye wanted over alleged $6bn fraud
“The one is to inform and reassure people who are worried about the gravity of the alleged offence and his whereabout and the other is to make an appeal to all Nigerians, especially the EFCC.
“Towards these ends, I deem it sufficiently important to state that Dr. Olu Agunloye is neither in hiding nor on the run. By himself, Dr Olu Agunloye walked into the office of EFCC on 13 December and he has remained there since then.
“I am trusting that this information will, despite, or even probably because of his having being declared wanted, reassure his friends and the general public that he is in custody of the EFCC and cooperating with them.
“In his own words, Dr Olu Agunloye had described the declaration by EFCC that he was wanted for fraud ‘as uncalled for.’”
