THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has hinted that it will swoop on Ayodele Fayose, Governor of Ekiti State, by the time his second tenure comes to an end later this year.
This is coming on the heels of the loss by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State.
Olusola Eleka, Fayose’s current deputy, who was PDP’s candidate in the election, lost to Kayode Fayemi, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In reaction to the election result, the EFCC wrote on its verified Twitter handle: “The parri is over; The cloak of immunity torn apart, and the staff broken. Ekiti Integrated Poultry Project/Biological Concepts Limited N1.3bn fraud case file dusted off the shelves. See you soon.”
The Nigerian constitution gives president and vice-president, as well as state governors and their deputies, immunity from prosecution.
Fayose will no longer enjoy such immunity once he hands over power to Fayemi, the governor-elect.
The EFCC has made several allegations of corruption against Fayose, but could not arrest or charge him to court due to the immunity from prosecution.
Once, the Ibrahim Magu-led anti-corruption agency obtained a court warrant to freeze Fayose’s account, saying that the account contained proceeds of crime.
The EFCC claimed that Fayose benefited from the $2.1 billion arms deal scandal which Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser (NSA) is currently facing corruption trial. But another court directed that the freeze order be lifted.
Meanwhile, the tweet by the EFCC on the imminent resumption of the charges against Fayose, caused controversy with many saying that the commission was acting in a partisan manner.
Kadaria Ahmed, commenting on the post, said: “Totally uncalled for, every time you behave in a partisan manner your undermine your credibility at a time when we desperately need proper institutions. You can do your job without this.”
Another tweeter user, Okosun Charles, wrote: “Is this supposed to be an agency fighting corruption? This is just so a shame. Now it’s obvious EFCC is an arm of the APC.” To which Frank Okah replied, “It [the EFCC] has two arms. Arm of PDP and arm of APC. It uses each arm depending on who is in power.”
However, there were others who see no wrongdoing in the post by EFCC.
“The guy [Fayose] has a pending case which was suspended cause of immunity. We are now informed the case will resume. What is unprofessional about the statement?” a tweeter user whose username is Shogsyboy wrote.
Another user, El Bethel, said, “This is good. I hope the present Governor of Imo State will not be allowed to go scot-free when his cloak of immunity is torn come 2019.”