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Over what it referred to as “unsubstantiated allegations” on bailout funds, the Kogi state government has dragged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to court.
Over the past months, the anti-graft agency and the Kogi government have been at loggerheads over allegations that the state runs an account in Sterling Bank containing about N20 billion bailout loan.
The EFCC had alleged that there were suspicious fraudulent activities related to the account.
In August, a federal high court sitting in Lagos froze a Kogi state salary bailout account domiciled in Sterling Bank Plc following an ex-parte application brought by the EFCC.
The EFCC later claimed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has received N19.3 billion recovered from the state account domiciled in the bank.
In its response, the state had asked the EFCC to apologise to Yahaya Bello, the governor, within 48 hours or face legal actions.
In a statement, on Sunday, the Kogi government said it has sued the commission at the state high court, demanding the sum of N35 billion as damages.
“The Kogi State Government, Accountant-General of the State, Momoh Jibrin; and Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Asiwaju Mukadam Asiru, were claimants in the suit, while the EFCC, Sterling Bank and Central Bank of Nigeria were listed as defendants,” the state said.
The motion on notice will be heard on December 17.
