The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Sunday quoted Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq as saying that the state has used the N263,327,800 recovered from looters to revive an oxygen plant and buy ventilators to contain the Coronavirus pandemic.
It said the governor claimed that the cash came in handy when there was dwindling revenue and allocations arising from the global oil crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A statement by the Acting Head, Media and Publicity of EFCC, Mr. Tony Orilade, said the governor made the disclosure when he was giving an update on the recovered cash.
The statement said: “As efforts to bring an end to the Coronavirus disease in Nigeria continue, commendations have come the way of the EFCC as the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has revealed that funds recovered by the commission for the state have been helpful in setting up isolation centres as part of its strategic activities to combat the disease.
“It will be recalled that among other recoveries, the Ilorin zonal office of EFCC handed over N263,327,800 to the state in March, being recovered money stolen from the Kwara Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) and 16 local governments.
“Abdulrazaq, while giving an update on COVID-19, said the recovered funds strengthened Kwara’s ability to put in place facilities, among other counter-COVID-19 efforts, as well as revamping the state’s hitherto ailing health sector.
He said: “We have bought five new ambulances (three are on ground and two are on the way).
“We have 10 ventilators now and we expect to have 30 by the end of the month and that’s one of the highest in the country today.
“We now have a mobile x-ray machine too.”
He said with the “timely intervention of the EFCC, his administration has funded the refurbishment of the state’s oxygen plant,” which had been in a deplorable state for the past nine years.
“The recovered funds became handy at a time when there was dwindling revenue and allocations arising from the global oil crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
