Fresh facts emerge on how Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State and his paladins emptied the till of the ‘Fountain of Knowledge’

Erratic, aggressive, with a rich background of street-wise attributes, Peter Ayodele Fayose is a politician with a deep appetite for scandal and controversy. But nothing in his bootstraps prepared the voluble governor for the raging scandal which is on the verge of ending his reign. Fayose’s political career is on a free fall from Olympian height. Indeed, keen watchers of Ekiti politics believe it is just a matter of weeks, if not days, before he gets kicked out of office.

While the Governor is yet to regain his composure after the arrest and arraignment in a federal high court of Goke Olatunji, his personal assistant and Gbenga James, a contractor, in connection with the N1.5 billion poultry fund scam, a fresh hurricane of sleaze and avarice blew across his face last week. A petition forwarded to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission by the Ekiti Justice & Equity Movement, alleges a mysterious disappearance of N549 million, which is part of the federal allocation to Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state between January 2005 and May 2006.

The document, signed by Lere Olayinka, Secretary of the movement, implored Nuhu Ribadu to investigate the over half a billion naira shortfall arising from the N973 million said to have been allocated to the council within the period. Providing a month-by-month breakdown of how the fraud was perpetrated, the document stated that in January 2005, while the federal government allocated N59.4m to the council, Fayose gave it only N22.8million, withholding for himself the sum of N36.6 million.

In February 2005, the governor’s gain witnessed a slight decline, as he pocketed N33.5million out of the N58.2 million meant for the council. The story was not different in March, with Fayose keeping N34 million from the N57 million allocated to the council. In April 2005, whereas the council was earmarked to receive N55.8 million, Fayose ensured that Toba Daramola, the council chairman, received only N22.2 million, while keeping the balance, the sum of N33.7m.

The stakes became higher in May and June, with the governor making N37.6m and N46m respectively out of the N58m and N68m meant for Ifelodun/Irepodun LGA. A sense of moderation seemingly held sway the following month and for the first time, the governor allowed the council to have the lion’s share of its due allocation. Fayose collected ‘only’ N25m from the N60m allocated to the council, leaving it with N35.2million. In August, N65.7m was allocated, with the council receiving only N27.6, while N38.2m was unaccounted for. Fifty-four million naira was allocated in September 2005 to the council. Of this, N32.3 was approved for the council, while the governor kept N21.1 million.

In October, Fayose made N40m from the N61.4m meant for the council, leaving it with a balance of N22.1 million.
Though no record of the November 2005 federal allocation to the council was included in the report, it was, however, stated that the council received N22.7 million. In December, N60.9 million was posted to the State and Local Government joint account by the federal government in favour of Ifelodun/Irepodun LGA, but only N28m got to the council chairman, leaving Fayose with a gain of N33m. The governor kept N30m from the N56.3 January 2006 allocation, and another N41.3 in February. In March, N65.9m was penciled down for the council and again, only N24.9 got to it, while Fayose smiled home with N42m. Only N24m was received by the council the next month out of the N67.7m meant for it. It received N24.5m from its N63.8m May 2006 allocation, leaving Fayose with N38.4 million.

Fayose’s ‘defence’ over allegations of arbitrary deductions from local government funds is that there are some projects in the state which require joint funding and execution because they are of mutual benefit between the state and the local governments. But it is doubtful if the governor can defend himself against some of the well documented cases of corruption against him. Now, the EFCC has discovered billions of naira allegedly spirited out of the state coffers via phantom road contracts by Governor Fayose. The commission also identified fund release warrants through which cash was moved by contractors for contracts not executed. Many of the warrants were signed by a certain E.O. Abegunde and Wole Adewunmi, both claiming to be acting for the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Finance.

A handful of the contracts which involved road projects received multiple payments. For example, lock-up shops built at Ajilosun in Ado-Ekiti cost the state N117m, with the money paid out under various name titles in four separate warrants.
According to the release warrants (payment voucher) discovered by the EFCC, N50 million was paid out to the permanent secretary, Ministry of Finance, for the ‘External works at Ajilosun shopping complex on 17 August 2004. Before then the perm sec had pocketed N22 million for the 2nd phase of Ajilosun Lock-up shops.’ A fresh N25m was also obtained for the same project on 28 November, 2004 under the title “Completion of Ajilosun Shopping Complex.”

It is also on record that on 10 August 2004, N20m was taken out of the treasury for “Ajilosun market complex.” On 27 May 2004, the intractable Ajilosun market project got a further N20m allocation. The Ado-Ekiti Afao road project, though less than 10km, with no major bridge along its path, cost Ekiti State a colossal N304m. Conjugated into three different payment warrants, the first form of the payment to the contractor, CIMA Resources Nigeria Limited, was a sum of N100m paid out on 14 January 2005, under the title “Construction of Ado/Afao Road.” Four months later, on 20 May to be precise, CIMA Resources got another N100.4m for the construction of the same Ado-Afao road. On 28 October, a fresh N100m was issued in favour of CIMA Resources for the construction of the ‘all important’ road.

To renovate the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, Fayose paid out N120m in a controversial contract awarded to Mr. Akpabio under the company name “Prodem Limited.’ The governor is believed to have hugely profited from the scam. But the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium scam pales into insignificance when compared to about N2 billion already expended on the dualisation of the less than 15 kilometres Ado-Ekiti township roads. The amount excludes a fresh N339m allegedly spent on the ‘Inner Ring Road’ project at the state capital. The EFCC also uncovered that all the contracts were awarded without competitive bidding. Most of the beneficiaries were long time cronies of Fayose from Ibadan, the governor’s erstwhile base. “It is a one-man show. We have not had an executive council meeting in the last 18 months,” intoned one of the commissioners before EFCC operatives.

But early this year, during a press conference, Fayose claimed that there was no fraud in the valuation of the Ado Ekiti township road contract, arguing that as a federal road, valuers from the Federal Ministry of Works came to the state capital to assess the road before a value was put to the contract. He described those who claim that the contracts were inflated as noise makers jealous of his transformation of Ado Ekiti, which he affirmed, was the ‘‘only Nigerian state capital without a dual carriage way before I became governor.’’

As if the gods of Ekitiland were working in tandem to compound the governor’s woes, his business associate and one of the men in charge of his acquisitions and finances in the United Kingdom, Bola Walker slumped and died in mysterious circumstance. Walker, who was the PDP chairman in London was said to have breezed in from his London base two days before his demise in connection with his friend’s travails. On arrival, the Londoner allegedly moved into Fayose’s house in the Iyaganku area of Ibadan and made frantic contacts with some of their mutual friends to discuss the crisis. Walker had in the past sponsored and syndicated adverts in the print and electronic media to drum up support for his friend.

Whatever human failing Ayo Fayose has does not include being tight-fisted. Those who know say the governor regularly dispenses gratification in cash to his loyalists and hangers on. And as one of his admirers puts it, “Fayose does not chop alone.” This could be attested to by Mrs. Abiodun Olujimi, deputy governor and herself a direct beneficiary of Fayose’s generosity.

Early last month, Olujimi joined the elite club of house owners in the highbrow Magodo estate in Lagos. The deputy governor, who had all along lived in a rented three-bedroom flat in Akute, Ogun State, a few kilometres from Lagos, purchased the breath-taking, twin-duplex mansion. Olujimi’s new home, which is currently getting accelerated face-lift is located at Wale Taiwo Close. According to TheNEWS investigation, the house was purchased by a company, Arribond Limited, for N25m from the original owner about a month ago and was sold to the deputy governor after she indicated interest in acquiring the property in response to an advert in a national daily. Some sources claimed she paid N70m for the house.

When TheNEWS visited the house last week, renovation work was in progress, the twin duplex being converted to a single edifying mansion. A security car with a covered number plate was parked in front of the premises. Neighbours identified the owner of the vehicle and supervisor of the renovation exercise as Daddy Warri, a nickname for Mr. Olujimi, the deputy governor’s husband. Meanwhile, operatives of the EFCC have their gaze on a 32-room hotel being built by Mrs. Olujimi in Akute. The land for the hospitality centre was acquired three months ago and construction work is in progress at the site.

The magazine gathered that the remains of the owner of the land buried within the premises was exhumed and re-buried at a new location on the orders of the deputy governor. Olujimi also has her eyes on territorial expansion. Sources informed that her estate agents are in talks with owners of a mosque close to the site of the proposed hotel about the possibility of acquiring the entire area, so that the worship centre will not impede operations of the hotel. Similarly, a filling station located in front of the house of the Baale Asore, in Ajuwon, Ogun State has been acquired by Olujimi for N22m. Mrs. Olujimi, a devout Catholic became deputy Governor of Ekiti State less than a year ago, following the departure of Adebisi Omoyeni who resigned his post to pick up appointment as Managing Director of WEMA Bank plc with barely three months in office. Adebisi was drafted to replace Abiodun Aluko who was impeached earlier for having the temerity to question the misappropriation of funds meant for the Ekiti poultry project.

The deputy governor was a media assistant to Fayose and later elected into the House of Representatives when Ekiti lost one of its members in the lower chamber of the national assembly, who was believed to have been murdered along the Lokoja-Abuja highway. Last Thursday in Ado Ekiti, Olujimi alleged that some ‘‘disgruntled elements’’ were trying to lure her into an impeachment plot against her boss. She said these persons, using veiled threats, had suggested to her that she would be the beneficiary in the event of Fayose’s impeachment. ‘‘There had been veiled threats and calls asking me not to antagonise the authors of this evil machination, who suggest that I am likely to be the beneficiary of a grand plan to impeach him (Fayose). Let me state categorically that I will never stand on the side of such detractors and I will never be part of any treachery against a man who has been instrumental to my rising political profile’’, she declared.

Sources in Ado-Ekiti told the magazine that Olujimi’s pronouncement was timed to dispel the rumour in Ado-Ekiti that plans to impeach Fayose had been perfected between the EFCC and members of the state house of Assembly. Yet, on Friday 28 July, Fayose’s circle of woes continued with the arrest of five members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly by EFCC operatives while trying to board a London-bound Virgin Nigeria flight at the International Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. Ekiti lawmakers have been under EFCC scrutiny for allegedly receiving N2 million each to impeach former deputy governor, Abiodun Aluko.

Those quizzed at the airport include Ola Olusegun Festus, Eyeowa Sunday Gabriel, Mrs. Oluwafemi Christianah, Owoeye Olusegun Emmanuel and Oluyemi Olusegun Olatunji. The legislators who had their travel documents seized by their captors have since been granted bail. Encouraged by the release of their colleagues, other Ekiti lawmakers who had earlier been nudged by Fayose to go to court with a view to preventing the EFCC from carrying out their arrest, voluntarily gave themselves up for interrogation.

The lawmakers reported at the EFCC’s Lagos office and immediately had their travel documents impounded. Apart from the impeachment bribery scandal, the legislators are also under investigation for allegedly collecting N2 million each from the local government funds every month. Buoyed by the release of the lawmakers, scores of Fayose supporters thronged the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, optimistic that the court will grant bail to Goke Olatunji, Personal Assistant to Fayose and Gbenga James, the contractor. The accused are facing a 15-count charge of money laundering preferred against them by EFCC.

But the presiding judge, Justice Tijani Abubakar broke the hearts of the Fayose backers when he deferred ruling on the bail application to 24 August. The Judge also ordered that the accused persons be moved from the EFCC detention facility to Ikoyi prisons. To close watchers of the Ekiti crisis, the import of last week’s court ruling could spell doom for Fayose’s battle to remain afloat. Goke is not just a PA to Fayose, but knows where all the dead bodies are buried.
Observers contend that Goke is to Fayose what Hamza Al-Mustapha was to the late Sani Abacha and what Malam Ugu was to the late Idi-Amin Dada of Uganda. Thus, with Goke in the slammer, Fayose is vulnerable.

But the EFCC appear to be doing its work with determination.
Last Thursday, its operatives swooped on the Lebanon Street, Dugbe, Ibadan branch of the First City Monument Bank, FCMB. They were seeking to uncover accounts believed to be operated by Fayose with the bank. The EFCC men, led by Abubakar Madaki, quizzed the manager of the branch. Though Daniel Bassey, Head of Corporate Communications, FCMB, confirmed that EFCC men visited the bank, he described the EFCC visit as a routine exercise in the banking industry. “Yes they came, looked at our books. They sent for two of our staff and the staff returned to their jobs. Our manager was not arrested. It is normal, anybody can petition EFCC and EFCC is duty-bound to investigate. We are not the only bank being investigated over the affair and there was no arrest because there was no need for an arrest,” Bassey explained.

There is also evidence that the Fayose people are beginning to find their voice, as they seek to do some damage control. Last week, Ekiti State Information Commissioner, Mr. Gboyega Oguntuwase was despatched to select media houses in Lagos to ‘‘plead for understanding.’’ He used the opportunity to curse those he claimed were intent on destroying his boss. Similarly, Deputy Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Taiwo Olatunbosun, speaking in Ado Ekiti, charged well-meaning Ekiti indigenes to give the Fayose administration the necessary support. He said the governor’s current travails were the handiwork of detractors who were bent on ruling the state by all means. Fayose, he noted had performed so well in the last three years to warrant the overwhelming support of the people.

Meanwhile, Governor Fayose has gone on the offensive. First, he suspended six staff of the audit department in the state Ministry of Finance over leakage of documents to the opposition. Later, the governor played the diplomatic card when he sent a two-page letter to the EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, praising him for his excellent job so far.

In the said letter, Fayose denied knowledge of the case filed by the lawmakers against the commission, insisting that the legislators filed the suit without a recourse to him. He assured Ribadu that he would do everything within his power to prevail on the lawmakers to withdraw the suit. While Fayose was dispatching his eulogy on Nuhu Ribadu, the Ekiti Justice and Equity Movement, was also sending similar message to the EFCC boss for bringing the Ekiti State helmsman to book. “We wish to commend the EFCC for its highly commendable investigation of the allegation of corruption leveled against the Ayo Fayose regime in Ekiti state,” read the statement signed by Banji Owoeye, Public Relations Officer of the movement.


 
http://www.thenewsng.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1392

This is very interesting coming against the backdrop that only 20% of the total budget released by the three tiers of government in Nigeria gets to be used for welfare of the citizens. The remaining 80% being used for the welfare of our corrupt politicians.

and yet people are so quick to point fingers at the Federal government, whereas most of the problem and corruption in Nigeria is at the root. this governors are so powerful and that is why they are struggling to get to ASO rock so they can have and steal more, greed is evil I tell you.

Most of the problem is at the top beginning with OBJ.

@ odeku

greed is human,it is just dat in naija we dont have an formidable opposition to check the ruling party.

@otokx
it is not fair to blame obj 4 all d problems.politicians are greedy all over d world.corruption happens to b among d top 5 political issues in usa.

You can imagine a state like ekiti with meager resources being raped black and blue by an upstart who parades himself as a guvnor. Then you can begin to imagine what state governors in rivers,bayelsa,delta,akwa-ibom would be doing with there allocation.

it is a pity that leaders are nothing more than petty kleptomaniacs.

The Hausa man show us how to embezzle, not we doing it big and the Hausa's can't wait to get to Aso Rock.

These so called people in power are just terrible. And nowadays no one is going into politics with the masses interest,everyone is going there because of their personal interests.

Remember one Hausa man name UMARU DIKKO stole $1 billion naira from the treasury and he said Nigerians are not suffering until people start eating from dust bin. and this are the same Hausa people trying to rule us and they all have the same mentality born to rule, TUFIA.