The wife of the president, Aisha Buhari, has described Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State as a coward, who is “timidly hiding” under the cover of immunity to avoid prosecution from several alleged criminal offences.
Her position is contained in her statement of claims filed before an FCT High Court in the defamation suit against the governor for linking her with the Halliburton bribery scandal in the United States.
Following a letter she dispatched to Mr. Fayose last month giving him five working days to retract his comment linking her with the scandal and apologise or be ready to face legal action, the governor, through his counsel, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), stated that under Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, no civil or criminal action may be brought against him while in office, advising her to wait till 2018 when his tenure would have ended.
But in the statement filed by her counsel, Ismaila Alasa and Mary Ekpere Eta, Mrs. Buhari cited criminal charges on the murder of one Tunde Omojola, diversion of N1.2bn state funds in 2004 and the invasion of the Ekiti High Court with thugs who allegedly beat up a judge in 2014 as some of the governor’s ‘indiscretions’.
“The first defendant (Fayose) is a well-known coward who is scared of facing the consequences of his numerous indiscretions and sheer acts of criminality by timidly hiding under the cloak of immunity to want to evade prosecution”, she averred.
Meanwhile, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi has approved the service of the court papers to Fayose and two of his aides – Idowu Adelusi (Chief Press Secretary) and Lere Olayinka (Special Adviser on Communication and New Media) – at the Government House, Ado Ekiti as the legal dispute proceeded in the week.
The judge directed service of the processes on the defendants by DHL courier service and publication in an online media platform.
The wife of the president, who has lined up 205 witnesses against Fayose, is seeking N5bn as damages over the statements.
Full hearing is expected to commence after the court’s vacation.
