By Olusegun Adebiyi
It might not be news anymore that the governor of Ekiti State, Governor Ayodele Fayose is currently battling hard, real hard, to disentangle himself from the web of allegations bothering on corruption, most prominently that of receiving N1.2 billion from the cash meant for the purchase of arms for the Armed Forces to fight insurgency in north-east Nigeria. Between the former minister of state for foreign affairs, Musiliu Obanikoro and him, a princely sum in the region of N4.5 billion was traced. That is a good enough reason to raise eyebrows. His Zenith Bank account was therefore frozen by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
What has, however, continued to make the stomachs of well-meaning Nigerians to cringe, is the whole hubbub raised by the controversial Ekiti man in his attempt to save his neck. As soon as Mr. Governor found out that the noose was tightening around him and his loots, he ran from pillar to post in a self-rescue mission, but when all his tactics fell flat in his face, like a child caught stealing meat from a pot, he started searching for imaginary names and brands that took decades to build their reputation, to go down with him. Enter the infamous claim that Zenith Bank, a top Nigerian bank, bankrolled his 2014 comeback campaign. It sounded like a story for the Gods, logically speaking.
Shortly after this were blackmail stories about StillEarth Ltd, a multi-professional services company providing cutting edge solutions with focus on the improved quality lives.
Fayose has passed these controversy avenues many times, and his first stint as the executive governor of the same state more than 10 years ago was as stormy as his second coming. The first one raised so much dust that he was chased out of the state unceremoniously. How he sprung back to reckoning demonstrates the forgetting and forgiving spirit of the Nigerian people. Where the current drama is leading the governor to has left so much to be seen.
Evidently, no mortal has crossed the way of Mr. Fayose without a brush with him on a return journey. During his first time as governor, the traditional rulers of Ekiti were reported to have withdrawn their support for the governor for allegedly slapping one of them and showing flagrant disrespect for the traditional institution. His well-publicised fight with the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe, is still fresh in the memory.
While he held sway in his first coming, the people were terror-stricken that even politicians were afraid to declare their intentions to vie for elective positions for fear of being harassed by the “powerful” man.
And just like it is playing out presently, the governor was enmeshed in a scam of N1.4 billion, leading to his impeachment by 24 out of 26 members of the state House of Assembly. The charges then included illegal operation of foreign accounts, illegal diversion of local government funds from Ekiti State Joint Local Government Account, receipt of illegal gift in the sum of 37,000 pounds sterling, illegal receipt of gifts of houses in Ibadan and Afao Ekiti and illegal transfer of $100,000 to Citi Bank of the United States of America.
The people of Ekiti State thought that people change with age. They deserve empathy borne out of their own foible for bringing back the man whose only aim of governing the state is serving his pocket. Ekiti is a state of the intellects, so it takes a Fayose to betray the sensibilities of an intellectual lot like avails in that place. Like a top elder statesman said, “Fayose is the tragedy that happens when Ekiti people choose ‘rice’ and ‘a bastard’ over an educational colossus like Fayemi. What a disaster!” They are now paying dearly for buying into the “Stomach Infrastructure” bait flung their way by a crafty politician.
The Fayose episode is fast playing out like a well-scripted tragicomedy. His actions are attracting reactions in a fast pace and at a very appropriate time. Good to know we will not have to wait till the expiration of his immunity to see a rascal punished for his misdemeanour against his people and a higher authority. His reckless blitzkrieg against the president Muhammadu Buhari and the first family is not a hidden topic to Nigerians. Now the chicken has come home to roost.
The governor’s associate, Abiodun Agbede has revealed the modus operandi his boss adopted to launder Ekiti money into personal use, including acquisition of choice properties around the country. Former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP chieftain, in Ekiti State, Dr. Temitope Aluko also claimed that Fayose did not have up to N10 million in his personal account before the 2014 elections. According to him, his primary election was sponsored by Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Aluko also revealed how Fayose bought five houses with N2.3 billion in Abuja, on Banana Island and Victoria Island in Lagos.
– Adebiyi, a political analyst wrote in from Maitama, FCT, Abuja.
