According to Chris Nehikhare, the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, the arrest of Julius Anelu, the state’s accountant general, and two other people is intended to impair the state’s government.

The Commissioner stated in a statement issued on Saturday that the state government would have been grounded starting on Monday and would not have been able to fulfil its fundamental duties.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission asked four representatives from the Edo State Treasury Office, including the Accountant General Julius Anelu, to visit its Benin Office in a letter dated October 28, 2024, he added. Regarding an agricultural facility that the State Government has since paid back, the letter of invitation, titled “Loans and Agricultural Interventions Granted to Edo State Government from Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) from 2018 to date,” is addressed to the Secretary to the State Government.

On Thursday, the government officials, including the state accountant, accepted the invitation to submit the answers the EFCC demanded in the Benin Office. But after determining that one of the invited officials was no longer a signatory to the government account, the EFCC asked for the current signature, whose name had not been on the invitation letter at first, and released the officer.

Along with the other officers who accepted the invitation, the aforementioned officer is currently being held by the agency in Abuja. The EFCC is determined to sabotage Edo State’s government and carry out a plan that foretells a serious threat to democracy. Contrary to the invitation letter, which calls for keeping them in EFCC custody until November 12, the day this government’s mandate ends, the purpose for inviting these federal personnel is obvious.

The government would indeed have been grounded as of Monday and would no longer be able to fulfil its fundamental duties and commitments. We ask the EFCC to act properly in the interest of democracy, justice, peace, and the welfare of the Edo people by releasing these government officials right now and preventing Edo State from devolving into anarchy. This cunning move is absolutely abhorrent and despicable. Under the leadership of Governor Godwin Obaseki, the Edo State Government operates in an open and accountable manner. This administration will end on November 12, 2024. Its activities shouldn’t be hampered by unconstitutional measures.