“@officialEFCC putting my name on watch list after notification of my coming is petty. I’m not among those who are afraid to face tomorrow. Nobody is God.”
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Ismail Omipidan
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has asked the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to place outgoing Ekiti State governor Ayodele Fayose on its watch list.
READ ALSO: Alleged N117b debt: I haven’t committed Ekiti to any debt – Gov. Fayose
Fayose, whose tenure ends on October 16, is being investigated by the EFCC for alleged abuse of office, money laundering, among other offences.
In a letter, dated September 12, addressed to the Comptroller General of Customs Service, Hameed Ali, the EFCC said Fayose may be planning to flee the country.
“There is a reasonable suspicion suggesting that he (Fayose) may likely leave the country either through the land borders, airports or seaports in order to evade investigation. Hence, you are kindly requested to watch list him and arrest him,” the EFCC, in a letter personally signed by Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman said.
In its response, the NCS instructed all zonal coordinators, area commanders and comptrollers to monitor Fayose, through the provided contact details if sighted, the NCS stated in its letter of September 14.
Reacting to the development through his personal Twitter handle, Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, noted that to put his name on the watch list after he had formally written to the anti-graft agency to inform it of his willingness to report to it next month, is an indication that the EFCC was playing politics with the matter.
“@officialEFCC putting my name on watch list after notification of my coming is not only political but petty. I’m not among those who are afraid to face tomorrow. Nobody is God. They should expect me on October 16, 2018. I will remain in PDP not minding their intimidation,” Fayose declared.
Also reacting, Fayose’s Special Adviser on Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said: “That would be irresponsible of the EFCC and of the APC-led Federal Government. This is the same APC-led Federal Government that allowed Kemi Adeosun who forged her NYSC certificate to resign and leave the country immediately, but it is now placing alert on customs against Fayose. What happened to the alert that should have been placed on Kemi Adeosun?
READ ALSO: NYSC certificate scandal: Mixed reactions trail Kemi Adeosun’s resignation
“Governor Fayose has written to the EFCC that he would appear at their office by 1pm on October 16. They should wait for him, he is not afraid and not a coward like them who are afraid of just anything. And we want to say that they should not waste their time and also not use the hushed up alert to customs to steal from the Federal Government coffers. Their case is like that of cow thieves running after fowl thieves.
“Governor Fayose is not afraid of any of them; he will appear as promised on October 16. They wrote a letter to the governor that he should appear on September 20 but by section 308 of the constitution, Governor Fayose still enjoys immunity against criminal prosecution until October 16, and when that garment of immunity is removed, Governor Fayose will present himself as promised on October 16 at 1pm,”the governor’s aide said.
Daily Sun recalls that Fayose’s party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost the July 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State, to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Kayode Fayemi. He defeated PDP’s candidate and outgoing deputy governor, Olusola Kolapo, to win the race.
Barely 24 hours after the election was won and lost, the EFCC, had in a tweet noted that with Fayose’s tenure ending in less than three months, he should be preparing to visit the Commission.
The Commission intimated that investigation into Fayose’s alleged N1.3 billion poultry project during his first term would be reopened so as to continue the prosecution.
“The parri (party) is over; the cloak of immunity torn apart and the staff broken. Ekiti Integrated Poultry Project/Biological concepts Limited N1.3bn fraud case file dusted off the shelves. See you soon,” the EFCC had tweeted.
Since 2007, Fayose has been having a running battle with the anti-graft agency. A new twist was however introduced to it in 2016, following the discovery that the governor, had allegedly benefitted from the alleged arms deal scandal, amounting to N1.3bn, which he was alleged to have received from the then minister of state for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro to prosecute his election in 2014. Obanikoro has since joined the APC.