The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has berated Governor Ayo Fayose for alleging that the Muhammadu Buhari administration diverted N25 billion from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to fund campaigns in Kogi and Bayelsa states.
In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party said Fayose’s opposition to the TSA was borne out of “ a desperate ploy to conceal fraud”.
The party said Fayose’s vow to boycott the TSA meeting to be attended by all governors was “impunity taken too far and a smokescreen to cover up his fraudulent financial transactions”.
Olatunbosun said: “TSA is to ensure that all government earnings are paid into a single account to ensure accountability and check fraud.
“Many government accounts were used to perpetrate fraud as they were hidden by corrupt officials.
“For a governor who describes himself as a friend of the poor to oppose a policy that will make the same poor people enjoy the benefits of transparent governance is the height of irresponsibility and a confirmation of allegations of fraud against him.
“We can now see the reason why the governor has opened several channels of revenue collections to be paid into several phony accounts.
“We wish to draw his attention to the fact that Ekiti State cannot be an island by refusing to abide with the financial regulations of the Federal Government, failure of which the state can be penalised.
“He will surely be punished for his demeanour and plethora of unguarded utterances unbecoming of any reasonable person. He is grabbing and pocketing every accrued internally generated revenue for personal use. He is living large and not accountable to anyone.
“Fayose’s attempt to mislead the public by referring to the TSA as a fraud should be ignored. The bogus N25 billion mentioned by Fayose as the commission received by the handling company is not correct.
“The truth is that the one percent commission received by the firm is cheaper than the commission previously charged and it is shared by the company, the commercial banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and this is backed by law.”