The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for an investigation into Mr. Kazeem Akinleye, the Chief of Staff to Governor Ademola Adeleke, over allegations of contract fraud.
The APC’s demand was made in a statement issued on Sunday by it’s spokesperson Mr. Kola Olabisi.
The APC urged Governor Adeleke to refer Akinleye to the Code of Conduct Bureau for an investigation into claims that he used his office to secure a N297 million Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) contract, intended for the University of Osun, for his company, Akinsas Interbiz Limited.
Olabisi described the allegations as serious and called for immediate action, dismissing the governor’s explanation as inadequate.
“The governor’s explainer that Akinleye is not culpable because he is not a member of the UNIOSUN Governing Council or a member of the board of directors of TETFUND is spurious just as it is vacuous,” Olabisi said.
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He further questioned the governor’s rationale, stating, “Does it mean the governor himself can deploy the instrumentality of his office to curry favour or contract for his company in the state-owned institutions under a pretext that he resigned his directorship on assumption of office? The drafters of the law did not envisage that a public officer would resign his or her interest in a company only for such a business entity to land mouth-watering contracts in the state where the founder of the company is a key policy maker and administrator.”
Olabisi emphasized, “While we hold that Akinsas Interbiz Limited is at liberty to bid for contracts in any public institutions in the country, despite the current status of its founder, it becomes inappropriate if such business activities include hustling for contracts in state-owned institutions in Osun, where Mr. Kazeem Akinleye is the alpha and omega and the de facto governor.”
In response, Olawale Rasheed, spokesperson for Governor Adeleke, defended Akinleye, asserting that he had resigned from the company prior to his appointment as Chief of Staff.
Rasheed stated, “Akinleye could not in any way be held accountable for the business operations of the said company as he never sat at any meeting or board deliberation where the contract in question was discussed.”
Rasheed dismissed the APC’s allegations as a distraction, maintaining that they would not hinder the ongoing prosecution of former officials from ex-Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s administration over contract handling issues. He commented, “The state APC is dead scared of the conclusions of the forensic investigation of the state contract review committee and the white paper implementation committee headed by Hon Kolapo Alimi which evidentially indicted many former top officials of the last government.”
Rasheed added, “The state APC is probably aware of the details of the many contract frauds, the companies used in perpetrating those fraudulent schemes, and their directors are already in possession of the implementation committee which is now set to move to the stage of prosecution.” He concluded that the APC’s attempts to tarnish the reputation of top administration officials, including Chief of Staff Kazeem Akinleye, were a failed strategy.
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