Fayose says he will not quit PDP for APC to avoid EFCC prosecution as security agencies monitor his movements

EKITI State governor Ayo Fayose has vowed not to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in a bid to avoid arrest and prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

On October 15, Governor Fayose is due to leave office at the end of his tenure, after which the current immunity they enjoy from prosecution expires. Waiting for him with the bated breath, the EFCC has already said it will re-open a case involving a 1.3bn poultry project he commissioned during his first term that lasted between 2003 and 2006.

Aware of the fact that he is being sought, Governor Fayose took the initiative by volunteering to visit the EFCC offices rather than wait to be arrested. He wrote to the commission promising to visit their offices on October 16 but the agency wrote back, asking him to submit himself for questioning on September 20.

As the cat and mouse game continues, the EFCC acting chairman Ibrahim Magu has written to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) asking it to place Governor Fayose under surveillance as he may try to flee the country at the end of his tenure. Already the NCS has circulated the EFCC directive to its area and zonal commands, directing officials to monitor the governor and report any sightings of Governor Fayose to the EFCC.

Apart from the NCS, the EFCC has also reached out to the police, the Nigerian Immigration Service and the Department of State Services to monitor Governor Fayose’s movements and arrest him in case he attempts to leave the country. Governor Fayose has berated the EFCC for putting his name on the watch list describing such move as political and petty.

Governor Fayose said he was in the PDP and would remain there not minding any form of intimidation, adding that he was not among those who were afraid to face tomorrow. He reminded the EFCC  that nobody was God, asking them why the desperation, insisting that he would report on the day he gave in his letter.

 “When a woman is being brought to you as a wife, you don’t have to peep through the window to see her. As I said in my letter, Insha Allah, I will be in your office on October 16, a day after the expiration of my tenure.

“Putting my name on a watch list after notification of my coming is not only political but petty. I’m not among those who are afraid to face tomorrow. Nobody is God, so they should expect me on October 16, 2018 and I will remain in the PDP not minding their intimidation,” Governor Fayose said.

He added that he has neither obtained loans from any bank or bonds from the capital market since he assumed office on October 16, 2014. Governor Fayose also challenged the Debt Management Office and the APC to publish such record if available.

In addition, Governor Fayose also took a swipe at the federal government for releasing the N16.6bn Paris Club Refund to Osun State about two weeks to the governorship election when that of Ekiti was withheld in a similar circumstance. He said the refusal of the federal government to pay Ekiti the refund of the money spent on federal projects and withholding the Paris Club refund accounted for why workers’ salaries were not paid.

In the past, many PDP politicians being prosecuted by the EFCC have defected to the APC and consequently had their cases dropped. Among them are former defence minister Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and ex-Akwa Ibom State governor Senator Godswill Akpabio.