Lawyer Asks EFCC To Probe Oyo’s N30bn Bodija Explosion Fund

A authorized practitioner has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to analyze Oyo State Government’s dealing with of public loans, bonds and budgetary expenditures between 2019 and 2026, elevating considerations over a N30bn federal intervention fund for victims of the January 2024 Bodija explosion.

The petition, filed on behalf of Mr Akinloye Olusegun by his solicitors on October 20, 2026, requested the anti-graft company to conduct a forensic audit of the state authorities’s funds and set up how funds accepted for infrastructure, healthcare and different public initiatives had been disbursed and utilised.

The legal professionals particularly requested an investigation into the N30bn Bodija explosion intervention fund, which they alleged the state authorities had acknowledged was domiciled in its Infrastructure Support Account with First Bank of Nigeria Plc and remained untouched as of December 31, 2025.

They questioned why victims of the explosion had been allegedly but to see the anticipated reconstruction greater than a yr after the funds had been launched, whereas additionally demanding an evidence for the reported expenditure of N24.6bn from the state authorities’s personal assets on infrastructure and sufferer assist.

The petition, addressed to the EFCC chairman, was submitted pursuant to Sections 6 and seven of the EFCC Act, 2004, and Section 15(5) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

According to the solicitors, their shopper, an indigene of Oyo State, desires the fee to ascertain whether or not the state authorities complied with public finance laws and decide whether or not any public funds had been mismanaged or diverted.

The petition traced the controversy to the January 16, 2024, explosion within the Bodija space of Ibadan, which it stated killed two folks and injured 77 others.

It acknowledged that the Federal Government accepted N50bn for reconstruction following the catastrophe, with N30bn subsequently launched via the Central Bank of Nigeria on November 4, 2024.

The solicitors cited a public assertion attributed to the Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, acknowledging that the N30bn was held within the state authorities’s Infrastructure Support Account, quantity 2045199879, with First Bank.

The petition alleged that the cash remained untouched as of December 31, 2025.

It additional acknowledged that the state authorities claimed to have spent N24.6 billion from its personal assets on the intervention, comprising N20.141 billion for infrastructure and N4.085 billion for sufferer assist.

The legal professionals requested the EFCC to confirm the account stability, set up the motion of the intervention funds and audit the state authorities’s claims regarding expenditure on the explosion’s aftermath.

They additionally requested that First Bank produce the account assertion and transaction historical past from November 4, 2024, to this point, whereas the CBN and Federal Ministry of Finance ought to verify the approval and disbursement path of the federal intervention cash.

The allegations within the petition haven’t been independently established.

Beyond the Bodija fund, the solicitors referred to as for a complete investigation into a number of loans and bond amenities allegedly obtained by the Oyo State Government between 2019 and 2025.

The amenities listed within the petition embody a N10 billion infrastructure mortgage in 2019, a N7.6 billion Central Bank of Nigeria agricultural mortgage for the Akufo/Eruwa Farm Settlement, a N2.5 billion well being mortgage and a N20 billion mortgage facility in 2020.

The legal professionals additionally listed a N100 billion Prosperity Bond issued in 2021/2022, allegedly linked to the Iseyin-Ogbomoso Road, Ibadan Circular Road, Ibadan Airport improve and the Ibadan Dry Port/Rail Corridor.

Another facility recognized within the petition was a N50 billion CBN Differentiated Cash Reserve Requirement (DCRR) facility captured in a 2021 supplementary funds. The petition stated the allocation comprised N25 billion for the Circular Road, N15 billion for the Iseyin-Ogbomoso Road and N10 billion for the airport.

The solicitors additional questioned a N200 billion bond accepted in June 2025 for refinancing current financial institution amenities allegedly attracting rates of interest of between 22 and 26 per cent to charges of 17 to 19 per cent, with an issuance price of two.35 per cent.

They additionally listed a 55 million euro French concessional mortgage, estimated within the petition at about N85 billion, reportedly obtained in 2025 for the rehabilitation of well being amenities, with compensation scheduled to begin below the subsequent administration.

The legal professionals urged the EFCC to confirm the disbursement and utilisation of the amenities, assess compliance with the Debt Management Office’s necessities and decide whether or not the initiatives delivered worth for cash.

The petition additionally raised questions in regards to the state’s annual budgets and supplementary appropriations from 2019 to 2026.

It listed the 2019 funds at N182 billion, the 2020 funds at N208.8 billion and the 2021 funds at N318.77 billion, together with a N50 billion supplementary appropriation.

The solicitors put the 2022 funds at N294.7 billion, the 2023 funds at N352.28 billion and the 2024 funds at N517.78 billion.

For 2025, the petition listed a mixed funds of roughly N984 billion, comprising N684.1 billion and a supplementary allocation of N299.8 billion.