The deputy National Chairman (South) of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Engr. Segun Oni, has urged Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State to explain how he came about the billions of naira found in his bank accounts.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had frozen the Ekiti governor’s personal bank accounts with Zenith Bank after it traced multi-billion naira payments from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to the accounts.
Oni, who spoke on a live interview programme “Heart of the Matter” on ADABA 88.9 FM monitored on Friday, berated Fayose for attempting to hide under immunity to “play games” with the commonwealth of Ekiti people.
The APC chieftain, himself a former governor of the state, insisted that Gov. Fayose has a lot of explanations to give on the management of public funds.
He described the emergence of Fayose as the governor in the June 21, 2014 governorship election as a “very costly mistake” for all Ekiti people, stressing that the state needs to be rebuilt as soon as the incumbent’s tenure ends in 2018.
SEE: EFCC Exposes Details Of How Fayose Bought N1.35bn Properties Within Six Months In Office
Mr. Oni also absolved Ekiti people of blame for electing Fayose as their governor for a second term, saying the June 21, 2014 governorship poll in the state was not ordinary as latest revelations have not only proved that it was neither free nor fair, but it was massively rigged.
He also queried what the governor was doing with N250million monthly security vote when according to him, “the state is not at war”.
The ex-governor also said the EFCC was empowered by law to freeze accounts where slush funds and other funds which do not pass the integrity test are kept to sanitize the system and to show to the whole world that nobody is above the law.
He said: “I cannot imagine where he (Fayose) got the money (in the frozen accounts), does he have an oil well? Anybody who cannot explain his wealth; that I have this so so amount in this account and this is how I got it, must be made to account for such funds.
“He is shouting about immunity, immunity what? Immunity to continue to steal? Let him address the issue of stealing, people may call it various names like embezzlement of what have you but theft has no other name. If somebody wears a good cloth and he was discovered to have stolen, he is wearing the cloth of a thief.
“Immunity was put in the Constitution so that elected chief executives can do their jobs without distractions but not to the extent of stealing, immunity does not say the person in question cannot be investigated. Let him be investigated, his prosecution is waiting for him when he finishes his tenure.
“Talking about the IGR accounts, those accounts are only known to Fayose and this is wrong. Fayose should come out and tell the people. This guy cannot be transparent because he is dubious and that is why everything is shrouded in secrecy. He cannot be transparent because he is dubious.
“Fayose was a very costly mistake for all of us, whatever we didn’t do right, he is the least qualified person to rule any state. His education and work experience are too low to be considered for the office of the governor and all of us are now paying for that mistake.
“I believe the elite will learn from the mistakes, people should not be talking on the social media only, they should go to the grassroots to back their words with action and that was what the Osun people did”.