Davidson Iriekpen and Ali M Ali
15 December 2007
Lagos — The former governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose yesterday voluntarily submitted himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Lagos saying he was at the commission to defend whatever allegations it has against him.
Fayose who arrived the Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos office of the commission at about 10.40 a.m., said he would have handed himself over earlier, if not for circumstances beyond his control.
As at press time, Fayose was still being interrogated by EFCC operatives and was not allowed to go home. It was confirmed that he would remain in the custody of the EFCC, until his arraignment on Monday and possible application for bail by his counsel at a future date.
Sources said Fayose might be arraigned at an Abuja Federal High Court on Monday on graft charges.
The former governor arrived the Lagos office of the EFCC in a convoy of two Mercedes Benz cars.
Speaking with journalists who had laid siege on the commission's office, Fayose said having not heard from the commission, and following a letter he wrote it, he on his own decided to appear before the commission.
He said: "I'm here today to officially present myself to the EFCC, so that I will have the opportunity to defend myself on all the allegations against me. I volunteered myself to come here (EFCC). I had earlier written the commission that I wanted to come, but got no reply, so I decided to come myself."
Penultimate week, Fayose had written the EFCC, saying that he was ready to appear before it to face any allegations against him. The letter, which was signed by his counsel, Dr. Alex Izinyon, SAN, read: "We act for Dr. Peter Ayodele Fayose the former governor of Ekiti State and on whose instruction we write.
"You will recall our initial letter to you on behalf of our client pleading for extension of time within which our client was to honour your invitation owing to circumstances beyond his control and on health grounds.
"On behalf of our client, we wish to thank you for your patience. We have our client's instruction to inform you that he is still willing and now available to honour your kind invitation. You may wish in this regard to let us know a convenient time when you may wish to see him."
Speaking with newsmen yesterday, Izinyon said: "We had notified the EFCC that we were not available to honour their invitation at the outset. Initially, we had asked for an extension of time within which to report because of circumstances you are aware of.
"But now, that we are back. We have notified them (EFCC) that we want to honour their invitation and that is why we are here. We have given our statement and we want to know why they (EFCC) are calling us.
"We want to know the allegations against us and then, we will respond to them accordingly. If we find that there is no proof, then that is the end of the matter, but if there is proof, they know what to do."
Responding to suggestions that Fayose may be detained by the EFCC, Izinyon said, "we came here of our own volition and I do not see why they will detain him. EFCC does not do that again. I believe very strongly that they can ask him (Fayose) to go and come back.
"He can be asked to bring sureties. If he came here on his own today, I certainly do not see why he cannot come back. He will surely come back. He can be asked to come back on Monday, if they cannot finish with him today, and we will move on from there."
He wondered why EFCC should detain him: "Must you detain somebody to get all the information you require? That is not a requirement of the law."
Fayose was governor of Ekiti from may 2003 to 2005, when he was impeached by the State House of Assembly. Shortly after his impeachment, he went into exile for fear that he would be arrested by the EFCC which had already commenced investigations into his stewardship as governor.
In July 2006, he approached the Federal High Court in Lagos through his counsel, Izinyon where he sought an ex-parte application, asking the court to grant him leave to enforce his fundamental human rights against the Inspector General of Police and the director general of the State Security Services (SSS).
Justice Tijani Abubakar consequently granted the interim order, holding that the leave would act as a stay on all actions, pending the determination of the ex-governor's substantive suit.
Fayose is being accused of diverting money from the state's joint account with local governments, totalling N11.8billion. He is also being accused of looting funds meant for the state's integrated poultry project.
In addition to this, he is also wanted by the police in connection with some high profile murder cases during his tenure, which include that of Ayo Daramola, a PDP chieftain.
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