• Governor refutes allegation

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, yesterday, accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of allegedly spending the state’s money to prosecute his legal matter with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Publicity Secretary of the party, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said in a statement in Ado-Ekiti that the party is in possession of fact that the N22m spent to charter the airplane that conveyed his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, from Lagos to Akure airport, was taken from the state’s treasury.

But reacting, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Fayose, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, said: “That kind of allegation can only come from the dirty minds of APC members in Ekiti. There is nothing like that. And if they have strong evidence, the EFCC, which has become a department of the APC, is there to do their bidding.

“The APC should stop disturbing the sensibility of Nigerians and face squarely the myriads of problems confronting the people. Nigerians are hungry and never had a government this bad.”

Olatunbosun said: “We gathered from a reliable source that a warrant for the payment of N22m, being the cost of chartered aircraft that flew Ozekhome, twice, from Lagos to Akure, was issued and the money released almost immediately by the office of the Accountant General.

“The N22m is outside of the legal fee, which has reportedly been paid to Ozekhome by the state government, to pursue a personal matter for the governor.

“Fayose is fond of using state funds for his personal affairs, as is the case with his latest matter with the EFCC, the same way he has been spending state’s money on adverts in several newspapers, to abuse President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Fayose and his counsel should be reminded that it is a financial crime to use state funds for personal matters, and we wish to invite the EFCC to quiz the state Accountant General and the Cabinet Office over this abuse of office and flagrant violation of financial regulations.”