TAN asks EFCC, ICPC to probe Ogun APC’s Yayi over budget allegations

The Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, over allegations of irregularities in federal budget appropriations.

The organisation also called for the suspension of processes relating to Adeola’s governorship ambition in Ogun State ahead of the 2027 election until the allegations against him are investigated and resolved.

In a statement signed by its President, Dr Oluwole Oladapo, titled “Senator Solomon Adeola (Yayi) Cannot Go Into An Election Without Clearing Allegations of Appropriation Corruption”, TAN said the senator should not seek elective office until he had addressed the allegations.

It added that “Nigeria is not a Banana Republic that can be operated as a private commercial enterprise.”

Adeola, who represents Ogun West Senatorial District in the National Assembly and is the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Ogun State, has faced allegations ranging from perjury to alleged corruption in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

TAN said the allegations should not be ignored, urging anti-corruption agencies to investigate claims relating to budgetary allocations, including allegations that projects were duplicated or could not be traced and that funds were allocated to agencies outside their statutory mandates.

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The organisation said, “As an organisation committed to public integrity, TAN asserts that there is nowhere in the civilised world where an individual aspiring to a public office of such great significance would be allowed to contest without satisfactorily clearing his name of serious ethical clouds.

“The ongoing reliance on the power of incumbency to shove candidates down the throats of the electorate without addressing fundamental crises of integrity undermines the core values of our democratic space.”

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The group urged relevant agencies to investigate Adeola’s activities as chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, warning against treating the allegations with levity.

“Beyond identity disputes, we are calling on relevant anti-corruption agencies to immediately intervene and investigate the Senator’s performance as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations,” the statement said.

TAN also cited a petition reportedly submitted to the ICPC by the Pan African Society for Social and Economic Change (PASSEC), alleging irregularities in federal budgets between 2023 and 2026.

“It seems to us that the petition by The Pan African Society for Social & Economic Change (PASSEC) submitted to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) that alleged irregularities in federal budgets between 2023 and 2026, claiming the insertion of untraceable or duplicated projects and the allocation of funds to agencies outside their statutory mandates has been left unattended.”

The organisation further criticised the state of budget implementation in the country, alleging that irregularities in the appropriation process contributed to problems in the execution of annual budgets.

“All Nigerians are aware of the scandalous and epileptic nature of annual budget implementation in this country. The citizens cannot just focus on the Executive organ of government alone because most of these unprecedented budgetary break-and-quench anomalies are caused by the malfunctioning of the Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly which Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi) presides over. The entire mess originates from there.”

TAN President Oladapo said the allegations required serious attention, adding that political considerations should not prevent investigations.

“The democratic values of our nation are at stake when serious allegations are glossed over by political structures. We cannot treat allegations of this magnitude as mere political noise,” TAN President declared.

The group consequently called on law enforcement and anti-graft agencies to investigate the claims and examine the financial oversight activities associated with the senator’s office.

It also urged political parties to subject candidates seeking major public offices to appropriate ethical scrutiny.

“We call on political parties to refrain from bypassing ethical scrutiny in the deployment of candidates for significant public offices,” TAN said.

Reiterating its position, the organisation said democratic accountability should remain central to leadership and called for Adeola’s governorship ambition to be put on hold pending the outcome of investigations.

“Therefore, we demand that until all these allegations have been properly and satisfactorily cleared, all processes regarding the Senator’s governorship ambition should be put on hold.

“As a matter of fact, he deserves to be immediately disqualified from the race pending the outcome of a full investigation into all these anomalies being alleged by several stakeholders in Nigeria,” the CSO said.

The allegations cited in the statement remain claims by TAN and the petitioners; the statement provided no findings establishing wrongdoing by Adeola.