By Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

Former Group Executive Director of Harmony Holdings Limited, Kwara state-government-owned outfit, Otunba Bayo Sanni, has debunked any involvement in any case of N170m relating to Harmony Investment Property Development Company(HIPDC), Harmony Holdings or any of its subsidiaries before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Sanni’s clarification followed the allegation by the incumbent Group Managing Director of Harmony Holdings Limited, Abdulmajeed Abdullahi, that the EFCC found him (Sanni) wanting of corruption to the tune of N170 million.

The former GED, who said he had nothing to do with the alleged missing N170m in Harmony Holdings, explained that all the transactions of the agency were duly approved by its Board of Directors during his time in the place.

Addressing a news conference in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Thursday, to clear his name on the matter, Sanni wondered how the missing N170m in 2022 would be linked to him, having left office since 2018.

He said: “Recently, specifically on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, the management of Harmony Holdings joined the fray of political propagandists with a press conference at the company’s head office, this time at a higher tempo that is tending towards criminal defamation of my character.

“In addressing the HIPDC staff protest and the staff demand for the whereabouts of the company’s N170m, Abdulmajeed Abdullahi had this to say in reference to my person as quoted by several media houses in attendance; ‘the EFCC founded him up for corruption to the tune of N170m.

“I, Adebayo Sanni, does not have, have never had and is not involved in any case of N170m relating to HIPDC, Harmony Holdings or any of her subsidiaries.”

Sanni listed the establishment of Harmony Reservation Area, Harmony Hub Shopping Complex, the 40 flats Wuse residential housing project in Abuja, renovation of Stella Obasanjo Hall, Ilorin and renovation of Kwara Football Academy offices and staff quarters as some of the achievements by Harmony Holdings under his direct supervision as Group Executive Director.

He said the Harmony Reservation project added about N5b to the state Growth Domestic Products (GDP) at initial competition, adding that it commands the highest price per square meter in Kwara State as at date.

While challenging Abdulmajeed to showcase his physical development having spent three years in office, Sanni said: “For the first full year of HIPDC in 2013, we returned a profit of more than N300m. We paid the first ever ’13th month’ pay for workers that year.

“Finally, I wish to let Kwarans known that we paid more than N2.2b in salaries and allowances during our tenure at Harmony Holdings – this sum saved the state government from annual budget allocations for the entities we managed.”

Sanni said he had consulted his lawyers for appropriate legal action on the allegation levelled against him by Abdullahi.