The Ondo State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC), has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to beam its searchlight on how resources accrued to the state under Governor Olusegun Mimiko are being managed.
APC made the call on the heels of revelations by former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Mrs. Ngozi Okojo-Iweala that Ondo received N81.7 billion from the excess crude account between 2011 and 2014.
The opposition party in the state lamented that residents cannot establish a link between this huge amount and the level of development in the state.
A statement by the APC’s Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Adesanya, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in the state had no reason to drag Ondo into its present state of debt.
The party said: “With no meaningful capital project in place, especially since his assumption of office for a second term, Mimiko has bankrupted the state and ground it to a halt.
“It is regrettable that as an oil producing state, the Mimiko-led PDP government received such whooping amount with no meaningful justification”.
Mr. Adesanya called on the anti-graft agency to investigate how funds received and generated by the state are being spent by the government.
The statement added: “While we acknowledge the challenges posed by the dwindling and bad economy situation in the nation, occasioned by economic mismanagement of PDP Federal Government.
“We are also sad that unlike other states, Ondo cannot justify the huge amount borrowed and generated with any developmental project.
“On several occasions, we have urged Mimiko to come up with the state’s financial statement.
“We are determined, more than ever resolute, to know how tax payers’ money is being spent.
“We are also poised to know if the PDP government is not feeding fat on public fund.
“Even though some states owe salaries, some of them have impacted the lives of the people through developmental projects and other interventions”.