Arise Television’s The Morning Show anchor, Rufai Oseni, has argued that the decision to unfreeze the Osun State Government’s account came too late, claiming the alleged objective of damaging the state’s image had already been achieved.
Speaking during the programme on Friday, Oseni said the controversy surrounding the freezing of the account had already created a public narrative linking the state government to corruption allegations.
According to him, even if the Federal Government or relevant authorities reverse the action, the reputational damage has already been done.
“No matter how you look at it, it confirms a lot this morning, and it goes back to talk about our institutions,” he said.
Oseni added that the development had already “blackmailed” the Osun State Government, comparing it to former FBI Director James Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
“I was telling Wilson Uwujaren yesterday that EFCC have already achieved the aim. Even if the president reverses this, they’ve already achieved the aim,” he said.
“They’ve already blackmailed the state government. This is exactly what happened between James Comey and Hillary Clinton, leading up to the 2016 elections.”
He further argued that reversing the decision to freeze the account would not erase the perception created by the allegations.
“So this reversal is a little too late because you had already blackmailed the candidates,” Oseni said.
He added that internet search results linking Osun State with “frozen account” and “corruption allegations” showed that the narrative had already taken hold in the public space.
Osun: It’s too late, they’ve already achieved their aim – Rufai Oseni