A White Paper released by Ekiti State Government has barred a former governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, from holding a public office in the state for 10 years.
The state also barred his former Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Dapo Kolawole, for the same number of years.
The duo were barred based on the report of the Ekiti Judicial Commission of Inquiry, which indicted them over alleged mismanagement of the state’s finances between October 2010 and 2014.
Fayemi, now a Minister of Mines and Steel Development, was the governor during the stated period.
The white paper declared them “as unfit to hold any public office in the state for their refusal to appear before this Commission of Inquiry, even, after the determination of the case challenging the inauguration of the commission of Inquiry before the Ekiti State High Court.
“Their disrespect to the constituted authority and the undignified roles they played in the whole contracts saga were obviously against the interest of the state they were supposed to protect. They are banned from holding public office in Ekiti and any part of Nigeria,” it added.
Briefing newsmen after the State Executive Council meeting, the Commissioner for Information, Mr Lanre Ogunsuyi, said that Ekiti State was a pacesetter in the management of finances.
“Government views accountability and probity as the hallmark of good governance. Therefore, the government decided to set up the Judicial Panel of Inquiry in line with its law enacted in 2012.
“The government viewed seriously the report and it intend to carry out all the recommendations in the report.”
The white paper mandated Fayemi and Kolawole to refund N2.7bn which was allegedly allocated for the execution of the contract for the ultra-modern market that was never executed.
It asked Fayemi and Kolawole to also account for the whereabouts of the N468.6m earmarked for the Ero Water Works from the Bond Prospectus which was not utilised.
But reacting, Fayemi through his Special Assistant on Media, Yinka Oyebode, described the ban as “a pre-meditated verdict” and “a joke taken too far.”
“While we believe it is part of the responsibilities of the state administration to look into the finances of the state at any point in time, we are also of the belief that such must be done in a very responsible manner devoid of prejudice, witch hunting and a calculated attempt to victimise a citizen.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Fayemi, has described as a big joke, the 10-year ban from political office slammed on him by an Ekiti State Government White Paper.
Fayemi, in a statement issued on his behalf by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Yinka Oyebode, to newsmen on Monday in Ado Ekiti, described the White Paper as “a pre-meditated verdict that cannot stand’’.
He said neither Gov. Ayo Fayose nor his government had the constitutional powers to ban him from holding political office, either in Ekiti or any part of Nigeria.
“While we believe it is part of the responsibilities of the state administration to look into the finances of the state at any point in time, we are also of the belief that such must be done in a very responsible manner devoid of prejudice, witch hunting and a calculated attempt to victimise a citizen.
“In this particular case, the entire process is discredited right from the beginning, as the only agenda of the panel was to rubbish Fayemi’s public service record.
“One is therefore not surprised at the recommendations of the White Paper, it only goes to confirm our initial position that the panel was compromised right from inception and targeted against the former governor.
“In his desperation, Fayose chose the crude and ignoble path towards hitting a perceived political foe,’’ the statement read in part.
“In the process, they ignored the rule of law and behaved as if the court does not matter, thus making their actions subjudiced to the court.
“Fayose was misguided into believing that he could pass a death sentence on Fayemi’s public service with the white paper, this is not only laughable, but ridiculous, as neither him nor his paid agents have the power to bar anyone from political participation.
“The entire process and the character personae involved are discredited and since it is impossible to build something on nothing, legally speaking, their recommendation is not only null and void, it is a joke taken too far.
“We urge the teeming supporters of the minister, the good people of Ekiti State and the general public not to be disturbed by the development, it is simply another act of illegality, from an administration that has elevated political debauchery to state craft.”
