The Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has reacted to the arrest of two of his top officials by the anti-graft agency, EFCC.
Ekiti commissioner of
finance, Toyin Ojo, and the accountant general, Yemisi Owolabi were arrested by the
EFCC on Thursday.
“They were picked up today following their refusal to honour
previous invitations for interrogation in relation to pending
investigation on the misuse of bail out funds by the Ayodele Fayose
administration,” an EFCC spokesperson said in an email to PREMIUM TIMES.
In his response, the governor, in a statement by his spokesperson,
Lere Olayinka, blamed the arrest on aides of President Muhammadu Buhari. “It is obvious that the hawks around President Muhammadu Buhari are
afraid of Governor Ayodele Fayose’s declaration to contest the
presidential election in 2019,” Mr. Olayinka said.
Ekiti State Government has described the arrest by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of the State Commissioner for
Finance, Toyin Ojo and the Accountant General, Yemisi Owolabi, as a
further demonstration of the anti-corruption agency’s irresponsibility,
saying; “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.”
Special Assistant to the State Governor on Public Communications and
New Media, Lere Olayinka, said in a statement issued on Thursday that
“it is obvious that the hawks around President Muhammadu Buhari are afraid of Governor Ayodele 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.”