The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has described the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government as one that is rotten and covered with scandalous corruption.

The governor alleged that there was a grand plot to release another set of Chibok girls to shift the attention of Nigerians from the various scandals rocking the government.

He added that the claimed recovery of $85m as part of funds allegedly looted from the Malabu oil deal and conclusion of negotiation with Switzerland on the return of $321m recovered from the late Military Head of State, Gen. Muhammad Abacha family were a diversionary tactic.

According to a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose stated this while addressing journalists in Ado Ekiti on Friday.

He said, “When was this $85m recovered? Has the money been paid into the Federation Account? Didn’t Buhari claim that Abacha did not steal a penny? They are just trying to divert the attention of Nigerians as they have always done.

“While the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government is still being confronted with the ‘Mainagate’ global shame, the Senator representing the Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Isa Misau, yesterday, came with yet another bombshell that the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, gave two Sports Utility Vehicles to the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari.

“Even though the police have said the vehicles in question were meant for the police personnel in the convoy of the wife of the President, Nigerians will like to see records of such vehicles provided for the security personnel of previous First Ladies. Most importantly, what happened to the promise made by the President not to operate the Office of the First Lady?

“In the last one month, Nigerians have been confronted with messy revelations like the fraudulent reinstatement of Abdullahi Maina, who was declared wanted for corrupt practices by the International Police Organisation after he was dismissed from office by the Civil Service Commission in 2013 for allegedly committing N2.1bn pension fraud while in office.”

Fayose also pointed to the reinstatement of the former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, who was accused of corruption by the Senate, unceremoniously removed from office and declared wanted as the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi, Lagos.

He also pointed to the appointment of Ahmed Gambo Saleh; the Supreme Court Registrar, who was indicted for fraud as the Secretary of the National Judicial Council and Secretary of the Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee.

He said, “Today, the President’s claim to integrity is under serious question, with his men dancing naked in the market square.

“While I await yet another scandal in what has become a government of one week, one scandal, I ask our President what has happened to the report of the committee that investigated the $43m discovered in an apartment at Osbourne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos?

“What happened to the DSS indictment for corruption of the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, Investigative Panel set up by the President?

“Who is the owner of the LEGICO Shopping Plaza, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos, inside which the EFCC claimed that it found the N448.8m cash?

“Who brought the five sacks in which the EFCC claimed it found N49m cash to the Kaduna Airport?

“What happened to the probe panel on the alleged N500m bribery said to have been paid to the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, by officials of the South African-owned telecommunications company, MTN, with the intent to influence government to discontinue its heavy stance on the $5bn fine imposed on the company?”

Source: reubenabati.com

On a day Governor Ayodele Fayose declared his presidential ambition, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday swooped on key officials of his government. Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance, Chief Toyin Ojo, and the State Accountant General, Mrs. Yemisi Owolabi, were taken into custody by the anti-graft agency. The commissioner and accountant general were arrested in Abuja.

The two were in the nation’s capital for the monthly Joint Accounts Allocation Committee (JAAC) meeting. New Telegraph learnt that the Ekiti State government officials were arrested over alleged misapplication of N7 billion bailout fund.

“The officials have explanation to give on the use of bailout fund the state government got. Specifically, we are probing the use of N7 billion diversion. There are questions to ask. What happened to the huge sum is our major concern.

“From our investigation so far, we believe that a sum of N7 billion was diverted by the state officials,” a source at the anti-graft agency told New Telegraph. The Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, who confirmed the arrest, said the top officials were arrested after their failure to honour previous invitations. According to Uwujaren, Ojo and Owolabi will face interrogation over the alleged misuse of bailout funds by the state government.

“Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance and the Account General are currently in the custody of the EFCC. They were picked up on Thursday (yesterday) following their refusal to honour previous invitations for interrogation in relation to pending investigation on the misuse of bailout funds by the Ayodele Fayose administration,” Uwujaren said in a statement. Fayose has kicked against the arrest. The governor said the antigraft agency is just chasing shadows with the arrest of the state officials. Speaking on the receipt of the bailout, Fayose said: “Ekiti got the least of the bailout fund. Ekiti got only N4.7 billion but the state’s wage bill is N2.6 billion while the local government area is N2.4 billion.

This automatically amounts to the fact that if the bailout fund is used only and strictly for salaries, it could not have paid salaries of both state and local governments’ workers for one month. “May I say to you again very carefully, I don’t appropriate money in Ekiti, rather I give the receipt of our allocation to the labour leaders. I have a standing committee of the labour leaders and I gave that right to share money in Ekiti. So they are only chasing shadow.

“The labour leaders came out and told them that our governor did not divert the bailout money. Our governor gave out the bailout fund to appropriate. So coming to arrest state officials simply because I declared today, you are wasting your time.”

He accused the antigraft agency of breaching the law with the arrest of the commissioner and accountant general. His words: “I want to say expressly that there is a court order against the EFCC that says no official of the Ekiti State must be invited by EFCC. EFCC wrote a petition against the judge that gave that judgement.

They wrote that the file should be resent to the Chief Judge to be transferred to Akure and it was thrown out in Akure. “EFCC is busy acting against the rule of law. For us to fight corruption, allegation is not enough. Stories are also not enough.

To fight corruption, you must allow due process, you must respect court judgement.” Speaking on Channels TV last night, Fayose said the arrest of the state officials won’t deter him from pursuing his presidential ambition. “So, arresting my Accountant General and the Commissioner for Finance today is shameful. Why did it coincide with my declaration? You are intolerant of my opposition, and I cannot be perturbed by that. Even my predecessors have been accused of corrupt practices with documents sent to the EFCC, yet nobody has invited him one day.

“I can’t be bothered by their strategies and conspiracies. It is a matter of time. Accusing someone of corruption does not make anybody corrupt. If that is your strategy against 2019, you will equally fail, because anybody charged to court is assumed innocent until the court says otherwise.

Don’t come and tell us stories. You know what the problems are,” he said. Meanwhile, the state government has described the arrest as “further demonstration of the anti-corruption agency’s irresponsibility.” The state government, in a statement issued by Special Assistant to Governor Fayose on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said: “The EFCC is obviously living up to its status as the attack-dog of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government, but Ekiti State government under Governor Ayodele Fayose cannot be intimidated.

“It is obvious that the hawks around President Muhammadu Buhari are afraid of Governor Fayose’s declaration to contest the presidential election in 2019, hence the usual panicky measure of arresting government officials in Ekiti on the day of his declaration, with the view to embark on another round of media trial against the governor and his government.”

The government challenged the EFCC to tell Nigerians what has been done to the loads of petitions written against the immediate past APC government of Dr. Kayode Fayemi, asking: “What has the EFCC done to those involved in the grass-cutting scam and the $43 million Ikoyi scam?” Meanwhile, the move by the EFCC to get the Appeal Court to reverse itself on earlier ruling dismissing the commission’s application to get a stay of execution on the order to de-activate Fayose’s two bank accounts suffered yet another setback yesterday, as the court adjourned the case to November 7. Justice Hammad Belgore of the Appeal Court, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, gave EFCC’s failure to serve the bank, as second respondent a notice of hearing of the date of the motion, as reason for the adjournment.

Source: newtelegraphonline.com

The People’s Democratic Party has told Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State not to waste his resources on his presidential ambition, saying the party’s candidate for the 2019 election will come from the North.

The party said all its members were aware of the zoning formula it adopted for both its presidential ticket and the position of the national chairman.

Fayose had sent letters to some leaders of the party to inform them about his decision to run for the Presidency on the platform of the PDP.

The event, according to a copy of the letter sent to our correspondent, will hold in Abuja on Thursday.

The letter was signed by the governor under the banner of Ayo Fayose Presidential Campaign Organization.

It read in part, “My dear leader, it is with deep sense of responsibility that I write to inform you of my intention to seek the ticket/mandate of our party to contest the 2019 presidential election, considering your support and commitment towards our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, it becomes imperative to keep you informed and seek your support.

“This ambition is however without prejudice to our party’s position, but in the overall interest of the party and our country.

“I urge that all hands should be on deck to ensure victory in our quest to return to the Presidential Villa, Abuja in 2019.”

Expressing surprise at the action of the governor, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, called on Fayose to respect the decisions taken by the party on zoning.

He wondered why Fayose would want to disobey the party despite his position as a leader, who he said, was also present at the national convention where the decisions were taken.

Adeyeye, who spoke exclusively to our correspondent on the issue said, “The highest organ of the party, which is the national convention, zoned the presidential ticket of the PDP to the North. That has not changed. The same national convention zoned the position of the national chairman to the South. The convention has yet to change any of these two.

“That (national convention) is the supreme organ of the party. Those decisions are binding on all members of the party.  Nobody can alter these decisions.”

“The governor is a member of the party and was at the convention where these decisions were taken. As a leader of the party, one expected the governor to respect the party and its decisions. If someone in such an office is breaking the decisions of the party, what do you expect from the rank and file.“

Our correspondent gathered that Fayose had once visited the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Walid Jibrin, at his residence in Abuja, where he solicited his support for his ambition.

A source close to Jibrin, however, said the governor was reminded of the party’s zoning formula, to which Fayose was said to have responded that he was constitutionally qualified to run.

Sources at the party national headquarters told our correspondent that Fayose could be working to deny the South-West the opportunity of producing the party’s national chairman.

Source: saharareporters.com

The Executive Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose has written to his party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to declare his intention to run for the 2019 Presidential election.

In the letter which was posted on Fayose's official twitter handle (@GovAyoFayose) on Tuesday, he sought for the support of the party to actualize his dream of returning the party to Aso Rock.

The letter from Ayo Fayose Presidential Campaign Organisation (AFPCO) reads in part: "It is with deep sense of responsibily that I write to inform you of my intention to seek the ticket/mandate of our party to contest the 2019 Presidential election.

"This ambition however is without prejudice to our party's position, but in the overall interest of the party and our country.

"I urge that all hands should be on deck to ensure victory in our quest to return to the Presidential Villa, Abuja in 2019."

He also attched a letter inviting the party to his declaration ceremony in Abuja on Thursday.

Source: www.dailytrust.com.ng

Nigeria is one of the many African countries who gained its independence from the British Colonials, the matrimony of various tribes with different languages appears questionable, some see Nigeria as a country that has been governed more by the northerners, others see it as a country whose resources is enjoyed most by a particular political party, while some ideologists see the military reign as the major set back, but on many occasions, we failed to think as Nigerians with common goal.

Politics of bitterness has eaten deep into our system that we no longer think straight again, propaganda makes the headlines and even the media is controlled by the custodians of the money bags. It’s necessary to take a brief of our beginning before looking into the next destination, not only the federal government is faced by the poor attitude of governance, the poverty playing type of politics has escalated at the states and local governments level.

Ekiti state seems to be a major area of concentration in this write up, considering the insensitivity in government and the spate of irregular style of Governance played between the era of the former governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and the Present Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose. The difference between the two governors and their style of politics is like that of a thorough breed graduate and an half baked student turn graduate, hooliganism shouldn’t be a style of government to be endorsed in Nigeria style of Government especially at this present period of having eighteen years uninterrupted democracy, every student within this democracy period should have been a graduate with credibility.

I have studied governance across the world, it’s only in Nigeria that we see oppositions play politics of destruction that is not worthy of a model in the country’s political institution.

Recently, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state  has claimed credit for students in the state having the best results in NECO this year, after the second coming of the governor, he has spent less than four year in governance, can you teach and prepare a child without any foundation in Education to credibly sit and pass SSCE within four years? I am not a defender of the former governments in Ekiti state, yet, as a trained teacher, if i fail to speak up against the politicization of education, we may end up in a dance of shame.

My experience with students and their educational qualification shows the most of them do not fit in to the result they present, either in the labour market or in furtherance of their education, the rampaging tit -for-tat that plays in academic examinations have to be checked if we must get the quality of our institutions. This doesn’t mean that Ekiti students doesn’t worth to be the best in the just concluded National Examination Council (NECO) examinations, but the politicization have to be checked to prevent politicians from interfering in due processes at the expense of their ambitions.

If at all credit must be claimed, it has to be shared with the immediate past Governor of the state without politics of bitterness, because the teachers that took the pains of maltreatment in the hands of politicians for been deprived of their welfare, yet, teaches the students to meet with the most expensive private schools in town. Don’t be a goat that feeds on others crops  and still claim ownership of the farm, education in Ekiti state shouldn’t be used to score cheap points, because if at all Governor believes in the system, he and his government will have their children in ‘common schools’ across the state.

ENIOLA Opeyemi writes via eniolaopeyemi@gmail.com