Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose has said that no amount of
intimidation can prevent him from speaking his mind.
Fayose also accused the Muhammadu Buhari
administration of using the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) to persecute its enemies.
The governor made the comments while addressing
journalists in Abuja on Sunday, June 20, 2016.
Read Fayose’s address below:
I called you here to intimate the public through your
various medium, the new clandestine plot by the President
Muhammadu Buhari led All Progressives Congress (APC)
Federal Government to destabilise the Ekiti State
Government, using the instrumentalities of the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Recall that a lot has been said about my election. First they
said it was photochromic and later militarization. The
election was challenged up to the Supreme Court and I
came out victorious. Remember too that international
observers including the US Govt applauded the election.
However, those who lost the election adjudged as free, fair
and credible are yet to accept the will of God and the
people of Ekiti State. A few days ago, we got it on good
authority that there was a meeting with some politicians
from Ekiti State, including an Ekiti born Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN) and self-professed human rights activist by
agents of the Federal government, with the agenda solely,
on how to bring down my administration as the governor of
the state.
Activities of these elements that are obviously afraid of
facing another elector*l defeat in 2018 are being
coordinated through the office of the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal
and the Attorney General of the Federation.
Certain top functionaries of the Ekiti State government and
some important members of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) in Ekiti State, and some associates of mine, have now
been pencilled down for arrest and indefinite detention by
the EFCC under the guise of investigating the funds spent by
the PDP on the June 21, 2014 governorship election and the
Presidential election.
The game plan is to make those to be arrested get detained
indefinitely, forced to make statements incriminating me,
while at the same time feeding the public with orchestrated
fake reports, using their usual media organs.
This is coming after their failure to use the Department of
State Services (DSS) to coerce members of the State House
of Assembly to buy into the impeachment plot against me
with a view to silencing me being a major voice of the
opposition.
The plot to arrest and detain indefinitely my Chief of Staff,
Chief Dipo Anisulowo and four honourable members of the
state House of Assembly for treason. To achieve this sinister
plot against the government and people of Ekiti State, we
have been informed that some of their trusted allies in the
EFCC have been mobilised to move to Ekiti any moment
from now.
I, however, wish to advise them to keep their gun powder
dry and should not be in a hurry, but rather, wait till the
end of my tenure in 2018. As a man known to keeping to his
words, I want to assure them that I will be available to
answer any of their questions, no matter how
unreasonable.
While we are not afraid of persecution from anyone or
government agency, including the EFCC and DSS, I wish to
state that the level at which the Buhari-led Federal
Government is taking political vendetta and muzzling of
opposition both in the PDP and within the APC, is
dangerous to the survival of democracy in the country.
Most importantly, Nigerians must begin to ask the EFCC
what has happened to the several petitions against APC
leaders and financiers of President Buhari’s election,
including former governors. For instance, on September 29,
2014, the EFCC received a petition against former governor
of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi and other APC top-shots in
Ekiti State. In the petition written by a group; Save Ekiti
Coalition, six major complaints bordering on fraudulent
practices were made with various documents attached.
I wish to state unequivocally, that no amount of
intimidation, harassment, investigation, coercion, will make
me stop speaking on behalf of the common who freely gave
their mandate to the APC, who are now daily failing them.
Nigerians must therefore begin to ask the EFCC why it has
refused to act on petitions against APC members. Why is
EFCC only interested in how PDP funded its elections? Was
the fund used for President Buhari’s election gotten from
the spirit world? Is EFCC now for persecution of PDP
members? Must everyone that is not in the APC be subject
of EFCC harassment?
Can Nigerians forget in a jiffy the activities of most people
in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari who ran
their states aground in an effort to funding president
Muhammadu Buhari election. Please, can we ask the
current government, who paid for all the chartered aircrafts
used for the campaign, the payment for all logistics for the
campaign?
It is now obvious that the current government is all out to
move against and silence all voices in the opposition.
I wish to state that there was no government funding of my
election, as my election was funded purely by the private
sector and organised donations within and outside the
party.
The Buhari led administration should also be gracious
enough to prove to all Nigerians that their election was not
funded by public funds that has been linked to them, but
which the EFCC is looking away. The current government
should be mindful that what goes round comes round.
Those who are presently in charge of the Federal
Government should be mindful of the fact that we all own
Nigeria together and all Nigerians cannot belong to the APC.
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