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Fayose's Impending Trial For Murder, Money Laundering And Corruption By Adeola Idowu

October 3, 2017

If Mr. Fayose has forgotten too quickly, the Ekiti people have not forgotten that on April 21, 2014, Mr. Olayinka had, in a strongly worded petition to the Inspector-General, pleaded passionately for the arrest of Mr. Fayose over his role in the cold murder of Tunde Omojola, Ayo Daramola, Taiwo Fasuba and others by a notorious killer squad set up and funded by Mr. Fayose.

In his reaction to the rejection of Ayodele Fayose as a presidential aspirant by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the renowned human rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN) recalled that Mr. Fayose was facing multiple charges of murder and corruption in the Ekiti State High Court and Federal High Court before his controversial re-election as a governor in June 2014. We join Mr. Falana in commending the PDP for turning down the presidential bid of the governor as Nigerians are not likely to vote for ex-convicts and criminal elements in the coming 2019 general elections. In attacking Mr. Falana over his comment, Mr. Fayose has asked the lawyer whether he is now working for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Of course, one does not need to be a staff of EFCC to know that Mr. Fayose's murder and corruption cases will resume next year.

Mr. Fayose's statement, made through his press assistant, Lere Olayinka, is very laughable. If Mr. Fayose has forgotten too quickly, the Ekiti people have not forgotten that on April 21, 2014, Mr. Olayinka had, in a strongly worded petition to the Inspector-General, pleaded passionately for the arrest of Mr. Fayose over his role in the cold murder of Tunde Omojola, Ayo Daramola, Taiwo Fasuba and others by a notorious killer squad set up and funded by Mr. Fayose. We are not unaware that Mr. Olayinka was bribed with his current position to silence him and prevent from pressing for Mr. Fayose's charges for murder. Unlike Mr. Olayinka, the Ekiti people are anxiously waiting for Mr. Fayose to complete his term in October 2018 so that he can explain the reasons for killing some illustrious sons of Ekiti State.

Happily, the move by Mr. Fayose to have the murder cases dismissed has been frustrated by the bereaved families of the deceased. The Ekiti people are watching Justice Segun Ogunyemi, who is conducting the mock trial, and the lawyers involved in the shady deal. The Ekiti people are also aware that the case of N1.3 billion fraud pending against Mr. Fayose at the Federal High Court sitting at Ado Ekiti was struck out in 2014 due to the immunity presently enjoyed by Governor Fayose. Since the leopard can never change his color, Fayose has continued to commit more criminal offenses. Already one of his agents, Abiodun Agbele, is standing trial at the Federal High Court at Abuja for colluding with Mr. Fayose to loot about N1.2 billion from what is now known as Dasukigate. In an attempt to mislead the Nigerian people, Mr. Fayose claimed that the N1.2 billion traced to his account was “donated” to his political campaign by Zenith Bank. Although the bank has denied Mr. Fayose's claim, Musiliu Obanikoro, a former Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence, who collected the money from Colonel Sambo Dasuki has admitted that he handed it over to Mr. Fayose, who decided to keep the loot in the Zenith Bank branch at Ado Ekiti.

Apart from the ongoing trial of Mr. Agbele for the loot, about 6 properties bought by Mr. Fayose at Abuja and Lagos have been traced by the EFCC and forfeited to the federal government on the orders of the Federal High Court. Mr. Fayose has also been recently fingered in the criminal diversion of the London/Paris loan refund paid to the Ekiti State government by the Buhari administration for payment of arrears of salaries of workers. It is common knowledge in Ekiti State that part of the loan refund has been stolen by Mr. Fayose who is still owing salary arrears of not less than 5 months. Mr. Fayose has said that the arrest of his finance commissioner and accountant-general over the looting of the loan refund  is an act of “political vendetta” we are waiting to know whether the money diverted from the loan was also "donated" to his political campaign by the management of Zenith Bank Plc!

We recall that after his impeachment by the Ekiti State House of Assembly in 2006, Mr. Fayose ran away to escape trial for murder and corruption. According to him, he put himself In the boot of the car which drove him out of the governor's lodge at Ado Ekiti.  We want to assure him that he will not be allowed to escape upon the completion of his term next year. However, let Mr. Fayose continue to deceive himself by parading himself as an opposition politician so as to give the impression that he is being persecuted when the day of reckoning comes. But we can assure him that he will be prosecuted at the appropriate courts at the right time for the cold and callous murder of innocent people, money laundering of N1.2 billion of Dasukigate, and corruption by looting the treasury of Ekiti State. In respect of the murder charges Mr. Lere Olayinka will be a prosecution witness on the basis of his own petition to the Inspector-General of Police. After all, Mr. Olayinka knew how Mr. Fayose and his accomplices killed unarmed people in Ekiti State.

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