Fayose decries harassment of Yari, governors

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has condemned alleged harassment and malignment of serving governors in the country, especially the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Governor of Zamfara State, Abudulazeez Yari by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Acting Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.

He also alleged that “the EFCC is obviously blackmailing state governors on the Paris Club refund.”

In a statement yesterday in Ado-Ekiti by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor described the onslaught on Yari as a direct attack on all the governors of the 36 states of Nigeria, 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 councils, adding that it was absurd that the Federal Government, which illegally used money belonging to the states and local councils for its own purpose was the one 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 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.

Fayose, who also briefed newsmen in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, described Yari as a man of integrity that the NGF would not allow EFCC to rubbish because of his independent views on issues.

He said: “The EFCC has become a lawless organisation. They are fond of destroying people’s reputation. This is most uncharitable. How would you compensate the man if after the end of the day those allegations are found to be untrue.

“The EFCC is now being used for settling personal score. A cabal has hijacked the commission and the fraud in EFCC is second to none.

“Rather than doing the right things, they are muzzling the judiciary and blaming it for losing cases in court when they have no concrete evidence. “

The governor, who condemned the EFCC for accusing Yari of looting N500 million and $500,000 from the Paris Club refund, said he was not surprised about the activities of the anti-graft agency because of the antecedents of President Muhammadu Buhari whom he accused of imposing Magu on Nigerians.

Fayose said the NGF would meet soon to review the situation to save Nigerians from further harassment and political witch-hunt in the hands of the operatives of the commission.

“This is humiliation and character assassination of our chairman. We reject it. The governors’ forum is a reputable organisation. Why not keep your gunpowder dry and wait for hearing and confront him with evidence.

“This is why they are asking for special courts so that they can shop for compromised judges that will do their bidding and be jailing people for them. Now that judges have also had bad experiences in the hands of the commission, that will serve as an eye opener to the rot in the agency.”