I Was Persecuted Unnecessarily For 12 Years – Former Lawmaker, Ikuforiji

A former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji has said that his trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was baseless and unjust.

The politician stated this while reacting to the dismissal of the money laundering charges pressed against him by the EFCC.

Ikuforiji spoke to journalists on Wednesday at his office in Ikeja two days after Justice Mohammed Liman freed him and his aide, Oyebode Atoyebi, of the 54 counts of money laundering charges.

He lamented that he suffered unnecessarily for 12 years.

According to him, “My joy knows no bounds—almost 48 hours now. I am extremely grateful to God. I was the Speaker for 10 years and was persecuted for 12 and a half years over a wrongful allegation. I suffered unnecessarily for that period of 12 and a half years.

“A faceless petitioner wrote a petition to the EFCC to the effect that Lagos State House of Assembly arm-twisted the governor to pay N500m on a monthly basis as running costs. And exactly 14 months later, the Speaker had stolen and misappropriated N7bn. This was the beginning of the whole issue.

“The EFCC came to the Assembly and combed the entire books of the House for three months and a week. And at the end of the day, they didn’t see any misappropriation, stealing, or embezzling of a kobo from the money released to the House. The officer who led the investigation affirmed that our book was the neatest and most detailed he had ever seen.”