Olusola Fabiyi, kamarudeen ogundele, Eniola Akinkuotu and Ade Adesomoju
The
office of the Inspector General of Police as received not less than 102
petitions against the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose,
investigations by one of our correspondents have revealed.
The
petitions were said to have been written by those alleged to have either
been harassed, beaten or detained before, during, and after the last
governorship election in the state.
It was gathered that the police
is set to invite the governor’s loyalists who were either in the
employment of the state or in other positions when they partook in the
acts stated in the petitions.
A special police team, led by one CSP Ndah, was said to have led the investigating team that investigated some of the cases.
During
the tenure of the last Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase,
the police was set to arrest some of the governor’s aides, but Fayose
was said to have raised the alarm, alleging that the police were coming
to raid the state and his personal house.
The majority of the petitions were said to have originated from the members of the All Progressives Congress in the state.
The
chairman of the APC in the state, Mr. Jide Awe, one of our
correspondents learnt, was said to have coordinated the writing of the
petitions.
It was also gathered that the writers of the petitions
were spread across the 16 local government areas of the state. Among
those said to have written the petitions were one Dapo Kolawole from
Ijero Local Government Area and Jide Ajayi from Irepodun Ifelodun Local
Government Area, among others.
A highly-placed police source said
that the time was ripe for the police to look at the petitions again
following the conclusion of the army’s inquiry into roles played by its
officers and men during the election.
“The police have over 102
petitions against the governor which we are investigating. Soon, we will
start inviting the suspects for interrogation,” the senior police
officer said.
He added, “We have the petitions already worked on by a
senior police officer, who is retired now, but we are looking at them
again so that it doesn’t look as if we are sweeping anything under the
carpet.”
It was also gathered that divisional police officers who
served in the state during the election and were used to illegally
detain innocent voters had volunteered information to their superiors.
The
state Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Taiwo
Olatunbosun, told SUNDAY PUNCH , that he was aware of the petitions.
Olatubosun said the party had written another petition against the
governor over attacks on its members by thugs loyal to the PDP.
He
said, “In fact, we wrote another petition two days ago to the DSS and
the police based on the attack on our members. Our properties at various
times had been destroyed by PDP thugs. All these allegations, among
others should be investigated.”
The state chairman of the Conference
of Nigerian Political Parties, Mr. Tunji Ogunlola, also said he was
aware of petitions against the governor bordering on intimidation and
harassment of the opposition by some of his aides.
He said apart from
the police, he was aware of petitions by the APC to the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission over the claims of the governor on monthly
wages of workers in the state.
He said, “It is true there are
countless allegations against him. He should defend all the allegations
against him in the petitions.”
The state chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Mr. Gboyega Oguntuase, however, said no true son of
Ekiti would write a petition against a performing governor.
He said if truly there were petitions against the governor, it could only come from “his enemies in the APC.”
The
governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, declined to make
any comment when called on phone by one of our correspondents on
Saturday evening.
Adelusi said he would only react if he was aware of the petitions.
“I
am not reacting. I am not saying anything because I have not seen
anything at all. I am educated and by the virtue of my training you have
to see what you are reacting to,” Adelusi said.
It will be recalled
that the APC in February this year for the third time petitioned the
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar
Malami (SAN), asking him to prosecute all indicted people in the June 21
Ekiti governorship election rigging scandal.
The party had written two petitions dated February 13, 2015 and November 23, 2015 on the same subject matter.
The
party in another petition asked the then Inspector General of Police,
Solomon Arase, to prosecute Fayose; former Ekiti State Mopol Commander,
Gabriel Selekere; and an Assistant Inspector General of Police, Bala
Nasarawa for the alleged criminal manipulation of the governorship
election.
Meanwhile, the EFCCC which had launched a search for Fayose’s houses is set to approach the court to seize the buildings.
The properties are those Fayose was said to have allegedly acquired after he became governor on October 16, 2014.
Already,
it was gathered that the investigators had identified six of the
properties with purchasing papers that were skilfully prepared to
deceive security agencies.
Our correspondent gathered that the
purchasing papers were yet to be changed, but that those who sold the
properties had confided in the EFCC who the real owner of the houses
was.
The investigators are working on the theory that the governor
might have used his detained bosom friend, Abiodun Agbele, as a front
among others.
A source in the EFCC said, “We are closing in on the
governor. Immunity does not stop us from investigating any sitting
governor or president. And we have no apology to offer for doing our
duty.”
Two of the governor’s friends were reportedly interrogated on
the properties. They included one Abbey, who was said to have been
brought to Abuja from Lagos on Friday.
He was said to have been
confronted with the evidence on the various lodgements he allegedly made
to banks in the name of the governor.
Another friend of the governor
known as Fatai, was said to have allegedly aided the governor in
securing his deposits in the bank. He was also said to be “in the know
of how the properties were bought.”
It was gathered that the houses
would be temporarily seized until the proxies whose names appear on the
papers of some of the houses were “able to convince investigators
whether the source of the funds used in purchasing the houses were
clean.”
The commission was said to have relied on reports given to it by former and current associates of the governor.
Chief
among the whistleblowers, one of our correspondents learnt, is a former
Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Dr. Tope Aluko.
Aluko
told our correspondent that it was true he was invited by the
anti-graft agency, adding that the allegations he made against the
governor concerning the funding of his campaign were true.
In a
prepared statement he gave to our correspondent, Aluko said, “Ayo Fayose
was sworn in on October 16, 2015. By January 30, 2015, he made a cash
deposit of N145m into De-Private account.
“On on April 18, 2015, he
paid cash of N70m to the same account. The N300m deposit paid into
account no 9013074033 in April in cash by Abey in Fayose’s name can’t be
from the Zenith Bank, but from the Office of the National Security
Adviser/Dasuki for presidential damaging and presidential election.
“These
funds were used to purchase choice properties in Abuja, Lagos and Dubai
through other banks in Ekiti which the EFCC is now working on.
“Ayo
Fayose is not ignorant of Money Laundering Act, although he’s relying on
his immunity. He should know that any cash payment above N9m for
corporate and N5m for individuals is an offence and should be reported
to the EFCC.
“The ones discovered or uncovered by the EFCC are different from that of the N2.1bn, $2m and $35m from this same source.”
EFCC gets court order to hold Agbele
Meanwhile, a Lagos State Magistrate’s court has granted the EFCC permission to continue to detain Agbele.
It
was learnt that the court granted the EFCC a remand order to hold the
suspect for two weeks as investigations into the N4.7bn allegedly
transferred from the account of the Office of the National Security
Adviser continued.
The remand order is, however, renewable after two
weeks, which implies that the commission can still detain Agbele for
over two weeks depending on the outcome of investigations.
Agbele, it was learnt, allegedly helped Fayose to handle over N1.219bn during the Ekiti State governorship election in 2014.
The
money was said to have been part of the N4.7bn that was allegedly
siphoned from the imprest account of the Office of the National Security
Adviser and deposited into the bank account of a company belonging to
the sons of a former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro.
The
EFCC had alleged that Obanikoro conveyed about N1.219bn on an aircraft
and handed it over to Agbele for onward delivery to Zenith Bank.
Agbele
was said to have collected the money on behalf of Fayose and paid the
money into the account of Fayose who was the governorship candidate of
the Peoples Democratic Party at the time.
In his reaction, Fayose
admitted that Agbele was a trusted friend who paid money into his
account. He, however, maintained that the money came from the management
of Zenith Bank and private donations.
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