.Condemns anti-graft agency’s stand on Zamfara governor
By Valentine Amanze,
Online Editor
Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has condemned what he described as the incessant harassment and malignment of serving governors in the country, especially the Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Governor of Zamfara State, Abudulazeez Yari, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) acting Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
Fayose also alleged that the EFCC was blackmailing state governors on the Paris Club refunds.
Fayose said that Yari as the leader of the state governors in Nigeria deserved respect from Magu and his gangs.
He faulted Magu’s method of fighting crime, stressing, “Rushing to court to seek forfeiture of properties on which no one had been convicted and maligning the NGF chairman is to say the least, irresponsible.”
In a statement on Wednesday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor
described the onslaught on Governor Yari as a direct attack on all the
governors of the 36 states of Nigeria, while calling on all the governors to rise and protect the NGF.
He pointed out that the Paris Club refund was occasioned by the Federal Government’s illegal conversion of funds belonging to the
states and local governments, adding that it was absurd that the Federal Government, which illegally used money belonging to the states
and local governments for its own purpose was also giving conditions as to how the refund must be spent.
“It is like a man stealing your money and now coming back to give you
conditions to refund the money he stole and also telling you how to spend the money,” he said.
The governor said that it was the height of rascality for the EFCC to keep
feeding the public with falsehood and maligning the hard-earned
integrity of Nigerians, especially former and serving governors.
“This persistent media trial is the reason EFCC has lost most of the
high-profile corruption cases at the law courts.
“For instance, EFCC was the one that investigated and it was the one
that went to court to file ex-parte application, seeking interim
forfeiture of N500 million and $500,000 it claimed was looted from the Paris Club refund. No defence from any of the accused.
“Yet, Governor Yari is already being presented to the public as a
thief by the EFCC. This irresponsibility must stop because these
attacks on the person of NGF chairman by Magu and by extension the
entire governors in Nigeria must stop,” he said.
