The EFCC on Friday said it has returned the sum of N19,333,333,333 which was allegedly recovered from the Kogi Salary Bailout Account ‘hidden’ in Sterling Bank.

But in a statement titled ‘EFCC’s desperate bid to cover incompetence laughable’, the Commissioner for Information and Communications in Kogi State, Kingsley Fanwo, said the Government would prepare a comprehensive response to the latest of the desperate moves by the Commission to save its face in view of its obvious goof and unethical conduct in the matter in dispute.

“The press statement by the Commission is a malicious attempt to rope the state into a matter that ordinarily has nothing to do with our dear state,” he said.

“We maintain the unassailable truth that the Kogi State Government did not operate such account with the bank as affirmed in a letter by the bank. We sympathize with the EFCC as it has been a herculean task to cover the initial misinformation and deliberate deceit by the Commission,” the statement added.

Fanwo stressed that the Kogi State Government would react to the latest EFCC statement comprehensively, noting that “every option that is legal will be considered to maintain the innocence and transparency of our Government.”

“Kogites and indeed, Nigerians should rest assured that we will get to the root of this matter,” he assured.