The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday sealed some houses believed to be owned by former governor Ayodele Fayose in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State. In a swift reaction, the former governor’s aide, Lere Olayinka, said that the houses affected do not belong to his principal.
The houses included a civic center at Fajuyi Park, two storey buildings at Okesa and the house where Peoples Voice 104.1 FM allegedly owned by the ex-governor is located and two houses at the Government Reserved Area (GRA), all in Ado Ekiti.
The development is coming barely one month after the state Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning sealed off a house allegedly linked to Fayose at the GRA.
The EFCC operatives were said to have stormed the buildings at about 10.35am to paste the restriction order. The inscription: “ Order from EFCC: This structure is under investigation, keep off,” was placed on the affected buildings.
In a statement, Fayose accused the EFCC of going about sealing houses belonging to innocent people in the state under the guise that the houses were linked to Fayose.
The statement read: “This is another wild goose chase and the usual media campaign against my person. It is only in our country that an anti-corruption agency will first go about sealing houses before determining the ownership, which can be done so easily by visiting relevant agencies.
“I am, therefore, informing the public ahead of their usual blackmail and media trial. None of the properties in question is owned by me and the records are there for anyone that is interested to see.
“The EFCC is advised to stop going about looking for ways to malign my person just because of their hatred as a result of my uncompromising stands on national issues. Even if the commission is being pressured from ‘above’ to persecute Fayose at all cost, it should at least, do its job diligently to save itself from persistent embarrassment.”
A lawmaker in the state, who owns one of the buildings sealed, Samuel Omotsho, said: “My attention has been drawn to an early morning infringement on my property at Okesa, in Ado Ekiti by EFCC officials.
“As an institution established under the law, the EFCC owes me a responsibility and moral obligation of due diligence by doing a thorough investigation of my ownership of the said property before the invasion.
“If this political infringement on my property and personal harassment are unconnected with my loyalty to Dr. Ayodele Fayose, then it is rather unfortunate. I put it to the public that as a medical doctor of 18 years standing and a member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly for almost four years, I have a clean record of service and I am properly guided in all my endeavors in life.
“This attempt to malign my name by EFCC by linking my family property to Fayose is political and was done in clear bad faith. A simple check at the land registry would have put paid to this unnecessary exercise and the accompanying media sensation as all documents relating to the joint ownership of the said property by my family is in the public domain.
“I hereby call on the EFCC as an agent of the state to disregard all political pressures and misinformation from the APC which is using this invasion to drag them into a political matter that is not in the best interest of the institution and the nation as a whole. I also call on the chairman of the EFCC to call his men to order and stay away from my lawful property so I can live my private life without any further harassment.”
