Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, on Wednesday said the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu was using the Paris Club refund to “blackmail” state governors.
Fayose made the claim while lamenting the incessant
harassment of serving governors in the country, especially the Chairman of the
Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Zamfara State, Abudulazeez Yari
In a statement by by his Special Assistant on Public
Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka , Fayose said “The EFCC is
obviously blackmailing State Governors on the Paris Club refunds.”
Fayose, who said that Governor Yari, as the leader of all
the State Governors in Nigeria deserved some level of respect from “Magu and
his gangs in the EFCC,” added that “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.”
The governor described the “onslaught on Governor Yari as a
direct attack on all the governors of the 36 States” of Nigeria, adding that
all the “governors to rise and protect the NGF.”
He pointed out that the Paris Club refunds 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 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.
“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 N500m and $500,000 it claimed was looted from the Paris Club
refunds. 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.
By Seun Opejobi
