Court turns down Ekiti govt’s motion to stop probe of accounts by EFCC

Ekiti State Government has described as trial and error the investigation being conducted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The government disclosed that “officials of the EFCC stormed a popular Guest House on Gana Street, Maitama, Abuja today to seal off the property believing that Governor Fayose owned the Guest House only for the EFCC officials to be confronted with the fact that operator of the Guest House leased the property from its owner for ten years.” In a statement signed by the Special Assistant the State Governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the government said it was only in Nigeria that anti-corruption agency will first arrest suspect first before looking for evidences to prosecute the suspect. The statement read; “Today, the EFCC demonstrated that it has been lying against Governor Fayose and other Nigerians all along by the failed attempt it made to seal off a property located on Gana Street, Maitama, Abuja that is being used as Guest House just because the governor used to lodge there. “It was at the point of sealing off the property that the owner of the Guest House told the EFCC officials that he only leased the property for ten years from its owner, a former Chief of Defence Staff, who was also a one-time Minister of Defence. “The EFCC operatives moved to the next building to the Guest House, which is the residence of the retired army general and they were told by the general’s wife that the building being used as Guest House as well the one next to it belonged to the general and not Governor Fayose. “It is shocking that in its desperate bid to nail Governor Fayose so as to satisfy their paymasters, EFCC is going about claiming that properties owned by other law abiding Nigerians are owned by the governor and the result of this investigation by trial and error by the EFCC is the embarrassment it faced at Gana Street, Maitama, Abuja when its operatives went there to seal off a property belonging to a retired army general thinking that it belonged to the governor. “That was the same way they told Nigerians that they discovered mansion in Asokoro, Abuja owned by the governor. Unknown to the EFCC, the mansion being referred to is a property rented by the Ekiti State Government and being used as Governor’s Lodge.” While insisting that whatever properties owned by Governor Fayose were acquired thorough legitimate means, the government said like every other Nigerians, the governor reserved the rights to own properties and can also receive money from people to fund his election. Meantime, Governor Ayodele Fayose, has urged the people of the state to watch out for politically-instigated violence from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). ‎ He appealed to the people of the state not to allow themselves to be drawn into needless battles by desperate politicians. He‎ stated this in Ado-Ekiti while interacting with newsmen after inspecting some ongoing projects in the state capital. In a statement on Tuesday by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, the governor cited the unprovoked attacks on commercial motorcyclists and passers-by by APC members when they held a rally in the town last Thursday. “When they saw that most people boycotted their rally and many only stood by to watch their‎ display of ignorance, they resorted to attacking innocent people. Their aim is to draw my supporters out for fight and they did not succeed and they won’t. We know their plans to even kill their own members and lay the blame on me and my party. “When they were in government, Ekiti people saw how they shed innocent blood. No fewer than 12 people were killed, the last being Chief Omolafe Aderiye. They had their chance but they bungled it. Look at the huge sums of money that came to the state as allocations, excess crude ‎oil money and yet they borrowed N31 billion commercial loans and took N25 billion bond from the capital market. “Despite all these, they still had nothing to show for it. Their desperation to get me out of office is because they know that when we are able to complete all these projects, their shame will increase‎. They also know that by God’s grace, with me as the governor of Ekiti State, they can’t win t‎he 2018 governorship election in the state. “If they are men enough, let them wait till 2018 and for all of us to te‎st our popularity at the poll. They have written a lot of frivolous petitions and have failed. The people of the state are solidly behind our government. Despite the paucity of funds, our administration has been able to do a lot of projects and if we have the same resources that they had, we would have turned our state to an Eldorado.”he said.