Abuja Carnival Runs Into EFCC Troubled Waters

The office of the Abuja Carnival located at Aminu Kano Crescent was last Friday raided by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). At the end of the raid, cases of documents were carted away with no arrest made.
But at the turn of the week, the Chairman of Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) Otunba Olusegun Runsewe was arrested and queried for two days by the EFCC before he was granted administrative bail and told to report again to the EFCC office off Adetokunbo Ademola crescent Wuse II Abuja. Also invited to the EFCC include the administrative staff of the Carnival secretariat. A good number of them had their houses raided at about 8 PM, in front of their children. At press time, these administrators are answering questions from EFCC operatives.
A reliable source at the EFCC said that the investigation is in connection with the 2006 Abuja Carnival held while Chief Femi Fani-Kayode was the minister of culture and tourism.
Chief Fani-Kayode had been picked up by the EFCC in connection with his role over the aviation intervention fund. At a Senate public hearing Chief Fani-Kayode accused his predecessor in the aviation ministry of unaccountable 9 Billion Naira. This led to the arrest of Chief Babalola Borishade at the premises of the National Assembly.
Our source at EFCC reports that it was during the interrogation of Borishade that he squealed that certain money was misappropriated by Fani-Kayode as minister of Culture and tourism.
It was further learnt that the misappropriated carnival fund was used to finance the failed third term bid by the PDP under Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
There is no doubt that the Abuja Carnival put Nigeria on the international tourism map. This EFCC probe as commendable as it is, should not kill the hard earned clean image of Nigeria gotten with money invested in the Heart of Africa project.