EFCC replies Fayose asking him to visit their offices on September 30 for questioning

ECONOMIC and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials have responded to Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State's recent request for a meeting asking him to visit their offices on September 20 to answer questions about his financial dealings.

On Monday this week, Governor Fayose wrote to the EFCC offering to submit himself for questioning when he leave office on October 16 and his immunity from prosecution expires. In the letter, Governor Fayose promised that he would report himself to the commission to clarify issues after handing over to the new Ekiti State governor-elect Dr Kayode Fayemi.

However,, the EFCC has replied to the letter asking the governor to make himself available for questioning on Thursday, September 20, instead of waiting until he  hands over on October 16. Umar Mohammed, the EFCC's director of operations, asked Governor Fayose to turn himself in for interrogation on Thursday, 20th September, 2018, without prejudice to his immunity under section 308 of the constitution.

In the letter, the anti-graft agency said it appreciated Governor Fayose’s sense of duty as a law-abiding citizen who wishes to voluntarily submit himself to the due process of the law. Mr Mohammed's letter read: “I appreciate your sense of duty and responsibility as a law-abiding citizen who wishes to submit himself voluntarily to the due process of the law, more so as your immunity as a governor shall come to an end.

“In view of the above and your request to make yourself available on Tuesday, October 16, 2018 to make clarifications on ongoing investigations that affect you, we look forward to receiving you even earlier than October 16, 2018. In this regard, we shall be willing to receive you on Thursday September 20, 2018 without prejudice to your immunity under Section 308 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999."

Governor Fayose has been having a running battle with the EFCC since 2007 but it intensified in 2016 after it was discovered that while running for office in 2014, he allegedly received over N1.3bn from the then minister of state for defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, who is now a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress. This money was said to have emanated from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki, who has been in detention for nearly three years now.

As part of the investigations into the matter, Governor Fayose’s aide and trusted ally, Abiodun Agbele, who allegedly received the money from Senator Obanikoro, has since been arraigned by the EFCC while all of the governor's accounts have been frozen. Senator Obanikoro has since been converted to a prosecution witness and will be expected to give evidence against the governor when his tenure ends.