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Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the All Progressives Congress candidate for the September 19 governorship election in Edo State, has said he cannot refund N700m the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested because in the first place, he never collected such money.
This Pastor Ize-Iyamu said while responding to the EFCC allegation during an interview on Arise TV.
According to Ize-Iyamu:
“The EFCC case against me for N700m, I have made it very clear that the so-called money was never paid into my account. It was never given to me. All I did was that they wanted somebody to verify that the money for campaign came. And I, along with two others, went to the bank and confirmed it.”
“From the bank, the money was taken not to my house, but to the house of the leader of the party. And when they got there, the money was distributed to the 18 local government chairmen of the party and they all signed for it. Not one kobo was given to me. These are facts available to the court; these are facts available to the EFCC.
“The EFCC’s own is that we ought to refund the money and I said how can I refund what I did not collect? If I took the money, I may say yes, I will refund it; but I didn’t take it, not a kobo did I take. So, my conscience is clear and my credibility is intact,” Ize-Iyamu added.
Pastor Ize-Iyamu is standing trial for allegedly collecting N700m as campaign funds during the build-up to the 2015 general elections when he was still with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The EFCC alleged that the money came from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Recall that Pastor Ize-Iyamu was the flag-bearer of the PDP in the Edo State 2016 gubernatorial elections. However, he defected to the APC to contest the 2020 elections.
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Source: thestreetjournal.org
