Former Governor of Ekiti state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has given a seven-day ultimatum to two aides of the State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, to retract libelous statements made against him.
The duo of Ekiti State House of Assembly member, Dr Samuel Omotoso, and Special Assistant on Public Communications to the state Governor, Mr Lere Olayinka, had during a live programme on the Ekiti State Television (EKTV), on July 6, 2016, alleged that “Dr. Fayemi illegally took 1.5 billion Naira from Ekiti treasury and gave it to President Muhammadu Buhari, while contesting the presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC)”.
They also alleged that Fayemi looted Ekiti treasury, alleging fraud in the
purchase of vehicles for traditional rulers and illegal withdrawal of
852 million Naira SUBEB money.
According to Olayinka, “Fayemi paid Ekiti 852 million Naira into
SUBEB account at Access Bank, and now this is the fraud he committed:
“It is this money that qualifies Ekiti to receive Abuja’s N852m SUBEB money,
but immediately the money dropped into Ekiti SUBEB account, Fayemi just
withdrew the state counterpart fund from the SUBEB account and Abuja SUBEB
caught them red-handed in the fraud game, just like 419.”
The House member also said that Fayemi illegally collected five billion Naira from Ecobank in the name of Fountain Holdings for purported road construction.
He also alleged that the ex-governor borrowed money on behalf of the state to build a Government House for his wife and children.
Furthermore, he stated that Fayemi had spent the state’s funds to build a private university for himself in Ghana.
According to him, he refused to pay pensioners, but was “acting like an armed
robber and carted away Ekiti money”, adding that he was not “just saying it
for fun that Fayemi stole Ekiti money, but he went away with Ekiti money and destroyed the economy of the state”.
In a letter presented to newsmen on Thursday, Fayemi had complained through his counsel, Chief R.O. Balogun, that their utterances during the programme, portrayed him as a very corrupt public office holder and fraudulent person who siphoned public funds at the detriment of Ekiti citizens while serving as governor.
He then asked both Omotosho and Olayinka to make a retraction and public apology, which “must be given equal prominence like the offending statements and utterances, otherwise they would be sued for criminal defamation of character”.
He also complained that he was exposed to “public ridicule, odium, opprobrium, embarrassment and unprecedented disrepute”, arguing that the duo had done “incalculable and tremendous injury to his image and personality as an international figure”.
They are also expected to pay Fayemi 100 million Naira for the “offending statements” within the period, failure of which he promised to file an action against them in the law court.
Balogun has also emphasized that if within the said number of days the defendants refuse to comply with the demands, his client would have no choice than to drag them to court to ventilate the grievances.