The Oyo State traditional rulers have denied benefitting from the $2.1 billion arms fund, which the Traditional Council of Nigeria was believed to have benefited from.
The monarchs spoke through the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, in Oyo town, yesterday.
According to Oba Adeyemi, he had never hidden his disapproval for the setting up of the council in the first instance and that he never supported it.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had alleged that TCN was one of the beneficiaries of the slush fund.
While exonerating himself and other members of the council in the 33 local government councils in the state, the Alaafin, who spoke with members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, Oyo Council led by Mr. Gbenga Opadotun to commemorate his 45th coronation anniversary, said he stood firmly against the illegality of TCN and possible crisis it could engender among the traditional rulers in the country.
Alaafin said, “When you talk of the arms deal fund, to the best of my knowledge, none of the traditional rulers in all the 33 local government councils in the state collected from such money. We are not part of it.”
The monarch threw his weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war, commending efforts he had made since his assumption of office.
However, he warned that caution should not be thrown to the winds in the course of fighting the hydra-headed vice called corruption.
The traditional ruler said, “People in authority should know their limitations too and do everything in accordance with the dictates of the constitution in order not to be seen as vindictive.”
He noted that since his ascension to the throne 45 years ago, he had initiated a number of developmental projects in the Yoruba nation and the country at large both nationally and internationally.
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