What Kind Of Governor Is Fayose? A Ritualist Or Herbalist?

Very interesting and highly revealing. But where is the source of this wonderful story please?

Where can 1 read d full story.i e news  magazine & what edition.

Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State has his hands full of trouble, as the House of Assembly moves to impeach him and his deputy, while the police probe him for alleged involvement in ritual murder

By Michael Mukwuzi



Exuberant and fraudulent are two words frequently used to describe Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State. Yet, neither of this adequately captures the governor’s latest ordeal. Last week, Fayose added ritual murder to his repertoire of alleged misdeeds.

This came on the back of the arrest of Prince Segun Bamiteko, former Special Adviser to the Governor on Local Government Affairs. Bamiteko was arrested by the police for alleged involvement in the kidnap and murder of a pregnant woman at Shasha in Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, in 2003. Bamiteko, a prince of Igogo Ekiti, allegedly headed the team of kidnappers and fingered Fayose as the financier and end user of the victim’s body parts.

According to police sources, Bamiteko was arrested in Ado-Ekiti after a three-week hunt and confessed to have led the team that abducted and killed the pregnant woman before obtaining fluid from her womb. The fluid was allegedly handed over to Fayose for ritual purposes. The fluid from the woman’s womb was said to have been used in the preparation of a concoction which was generously dispensed in the much-vaunted free water which Fayose distributed in water tankers around the state as inducement to voters in the run-up to the 2003 governorship election.

TheNEWS gathered that apart from Bamiteko, a fetish priest based in Kwara State, is also in police net over the same crime. The fetish priest was said to have requested for the fluid to enable him prepare the concoction. In his confessional statement made to available to this magazine, Bamiteko admitted knowing when and where the slain woman was buried, but denied participating in the murder. “I wish to say that sometime in 2001, I ran into them – Olatunji Goke and three others – in a room at Spotless Hotel (owned by Fayose) and I met a pregnant woman, whom they told me was about to give birth to a baby. Being a sympathiser, I wished to assist the woman. It was when I was about going for drugs and other things that I was confronted (sic) that she was for ritual. But for my own precious life, I had to stay with them. I knew when and where the woman was buried, but I was not a partaker in all the plans,” the statement read in part.

Fayose was said to have been attracted to Bamiteko because he had a huge street reputation, and according to the suspect, ‘‘because of my electoral value.’’ To tie him to the governor, Bamiteko was appointed a Special Adviser. But the friendship did not last, as they split up over a yet undisclosed disagreement. The break-up prompted Bamiteko to threaten that he would reveal the governor’s gory secret to the world.
Twice, he allegedly escaped assassination attempts by gunmen suspected to be part of the Fayose killer squad. Police sources told this magazine that Bamiteko has been moved to Abuja for further interrogation.

In a chat with TheNEWS last Friday, Police Public Relations Officer, Haz Iwendi, refused to comment on Bamiteko’s arrest or any other matter related to Ekiti State. He promised that soon the Inspector-General of Police, Sunday Ehindero, will soon make a public statement on police investigations into sundry murders in Ekiti State.
An aide of Governor Fayose described the allegation of ritual murder as baseless, arguing that Bamiteko was insane. In the last 36 months, cases of politically-inspired killings and violence have become common place in Ekiti State. Virtually all the killings and incidents of violence were ascribed to Fayose by prominent indigenes of the state. In August, Dr. Ayodele Daramola, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant, was shot dead in his country home in Ijan-Ekiti. His death was immediately ascribed to Fayose, who is believed to operate a killer squad.

Despite Fayose’s denial of the allegation his offer of N5 million to anyone who could unveil Daramola’s killers, the suspicion did not go away. It also did not help that the governor’s public utterances are brash and sometimes coarse, giving ammunition to his opponents,  “Nobody can snatch power from me the way I snatched power from Adebayo because I am not only in government, I am in power and I am ready to guard the power jealously,” he once said.
Although Taye Fasuba, former Chairman of Ado-Ekiti Local Government Area and a critic of Fayose, escaped an assassination at his Ado-Ekiti residence by unknown gunmen, others have not been so lucky.

Tunde Omojola, a Holland-based businessman, was one of such persons. He was allegedly hacked to death by Fayose’s men during a by-election for the Ido-Osi LGA Council Ward on 28 May 2005.
Many prominent indigenes of the state have also accused Fayose of making attempts on their lives. They include Chief Afe Babalola, SAN; Femi Falana, lawyer and human rights activist; Chief Biodun Aluko, a surveyor and Fayose’s former deputy; Aviation minister, Professor Babalola Borisade, and Navy Captain Omoniyi Olubolade, a governorship aspirant.

Fayose’s first known association with violence in the state occurred on 16 March 2004, when eight students of the Ekiti State College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti, were killed over a routine protest.
What appears to be Fayose’s journey into political oblivion kicked-off on 26 September, when the House of Assembly served notice of impeachment on him and his deputy, Mrs. Abiodun Olujimi. While the Deputy Governor faces a two-count charge, the Governor is facing seven counts bordering on gross misconduct and abuse of office.

The impeachment notice came days after Fayose, Olujimi and members of the House were indicted by the report of a probe conducted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The notice of impeachment was endorsed by 24 of the 26 lawmakers. The duo of Taiwo Olatunbosun, representing Ifelodun\Irepodun constituency, and Tunji Akinyele of Oye constituency, abstained.
The first two counts state that Fayose contravened his oath of office by operating foreign bank accounts with various banks in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Fayose is said to operate an account with the Bank of America, using Visa Credit numbers 45397806 and 28083056 valid until August 2007.

He is also said to operate several accounts with Barclays Bank plc, London. The account numbers are 50633925, 60642924 and 80809594. All these are contrary to the provisions of paragraph 3 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers. Under count three, Fayose is on trial for illegal diversion of Local Government funds totalling N11.7 billion out of the N17.8 billion received from the Federation Account between January 2004 and June 2006. The fourth count alleges that he violated his oath of office by collecting illegal gifts, totalling £37,000 from Biological Concepts, the company to which the contract for the state poultry project was awarded. The money was said to be proceeds from the poultry project.

Count five accuses Fayose of receiving a house situated at 10, Kobiowu Crescent, Iyaganku, GRA, Ibadan. The property, which is valued at over N40 million, is also alleged to have been bought from the proceeds of thecontroversial poultry project. For the sixth count, the Ekiti State helmsman is accused of receiving properties worth N20 million in Ibadan as gratification for contracts awarded to Grid Associates, headed by Abiodun-Arole, for the construction of the Governor’s Office. This is in addition to the allegation that he collected a property in Afao-Ekiti, valued at N25 million.

This was allegedly bought with funds meant for the construction of Fountain Hotel. The contract for the hotel was also awarded to Grid Associates. Under the same count, the Governor is alleged to have obtained N42 million from the same contractor through one Ayobola Abiola, a former employee of the defunct Standard Trust Bank plc, who now works for First City Monument Bank (FCMB). The amount is believed to be proceeds from the contracts for Fountain Hotel and the Governor’s Office.

The last count accuses Fayose of illegally transferring $100,000 to the US on 20 August 2004, via account number 45703770 of Citi Bank, New York. This was allegedly done through Mr. Toney Orubuloye, thereby contravening the Money Laundering Act of 2004.
On her part, the Deputy Governor is accused of receiving $50,000 from the state poultry project funds and failing to undergo the compulsory one-year National Youth Service programme.

Section 188 of the Constitution spells out the procedure for impeaching a Governor or Deputy Governor from office (see box). If Fayose and his deputy get impeached, Section 191 sub- section (2) of the Constitution empowers the Speaker of the House to take over the reins of power for a period not exceeding three months, paving way for the conduct of a fresh governorship election. Will the House go the whole hog?


 









 


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