Quote:Ayodele Fayose, incumbent governor of Ekiti State, has queried why former Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, was not been watchlisted and prevented from leaving the country.

Mr Fayose made the query in reaction to reports of his name been watchlisted by security agents in a bid to prevent him from escaping from prosecution of alleged abuse of office, money laundering, among others.

Mrs Adeosun who recently resigned after months of allegations questioning the genuineness of her credentials, admitted she was parading a fake certificate. She instantly flew out of the country few hours after she stepped down.

The governor who earlier described the development against him as political said he was not going to quit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) despite the intimidation.

Fayose had earlier wrote the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) notifying the anti-graft agency of his intention to appear before it at the expiration of his tenure next month. But the anti-graft agency is said to be working on clues that the governor’s plan to appear before its team may be a decoy hence the need to watchlist him.

In a statement on Sunday, by Lere Olayinka, his Special Adviser on Communication and New Media, Fayose said the EFCC and the APC-led Federal Government were reckless.

“This is the same APC-led Federal Government that allowed Kemi Adeosun who forged her NYSC certificate to resign and leave the country immediately, but it is now placing alert on customs against Fayose. What happened to the alert that should have been placed on Kemi Adeosun? Mr Olayinka queried.

“Governor Fayose has written to the EFCC that he would appear at their office by 1pm on October 16. They should wait for him, he is not afraid and not a coward like them who are afraid of just anything. And we want to say that they should not waste their time and also not use the hushed up alert to customs to steal from the Federal Government coffers. Their case is like that of cow thieves running after fowl thieves.

“Governor Fayose is not afraid of any of them; he will appear as promised on October 16. They wrote a letter to the governor that he should appear on September 20 but by section 308 of the constitution, Governor Fayose still enjoys immunity against criminal prosecution until October 16, and when that garment of immunity is removed, Governor Fayose will present himself as promised on October 16 at 1pm,” he added.

Since 2007, Fayose has been having a running battle with the anti-graft agency. A new twist was however introduced to it in 2016, following the discovery that the governor, had allegedly benefitted from the alleged arms deal scandal, amounting to N1.3bn, which he was alleged to have received from the then minister of state for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro to prosecute his election in 2014. Obanikoro has since joined the All Progressive Congress, (APC).

Fayose’s party, the PDP, lost the July 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State, to the candidate of the APC, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. He defeated PDP’s candidate and outgoing deputy governor, Olusola Kolapo, to win the race.



Barely 24 hours after the election was won and lost, the EFCC, had in a tweet noted that with Fayose’s tenure ending in less than three months, he should be preparing to visit the Commission.

The Commission intimated that investigation into Fayose’s alleged N1.3 billion poultry project during his first term would be reopened so as to continue the prosecution.

“The parri (party) 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 EFCC had tweeted.