Fayose’s Challenge to EFCC
Whatever you may say about Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose, there is no doubting the fact that he has the courage of his convictions, regardless of what those convictions are—and that includes the fact that he does not like this reporter, as he last year told me at a Nigeria Governors Forum session to which I was invited by the Director General, Mr A.B. Okauru. But it doesn’t really matter. On Tuesday, Fayose submitted a letter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), pledging to make himself available on October 16 to clarify whatever issues the commission may have with him.
Fayose’s move came against the background that shortly after the result of the June gubernatorial election in Ekiti State—won by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi—was announced, there was a gloating statement from the EFCC official Twitter handle: “The parri is over; The cloak of immunity torn apart, and the staff broken. #Ekiti Integrated Poultry Project/ Biological Concepts Limited N1.3bn fraud case file dusted off the shelves. See you soon.” Although the statement was deleted after public uproar, it was clear enough evidence that the EFCC had targeted Fayose for the selective justice for which the institution has become notorious.
Meanwhile, I have over the years been very critical of Governor Fayose, especially over the manner in which he has attacked the person of President Muhammadu Buhari, even before the election that brought the man to power. There is a measure of public decency that I expected of the governor which unfortunately he never displayed and most of the things he did and said against Buhari were disrespectful and bordered on hate-mongering. That was why I never spared the governor and the reason he also doesn’t like me, even though I have never lost my sleep over that.
Since it is an open secret that the EFCC is interested in Fayose, whatever may be the motivation, the commission had better put its act together with concrete evidence that they can take to court for a diligent prosecution should they have any case against him. But given what has transpired in the past three years and the Tweet that has already given the game away, there should be no media trial or any attempts at public humiliation of Fayose when he is out of office. A commission whose responsibility is to fight corruption in the public space cannot become a partisan instrument for the blackmail and coercion of opposition politicians in the hands of a government in power.