Probing Fayose not on my agenda, says Governor Fayemi

Court begins sitting in suit to unseat gov
Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State yesterday maintained that probing the administration of his immediate predecessor, Ayodele Fayose, was not on his agenda.

He made the comment in Abuja while fielding questions from State House correspondents after he met with President Muhammadu Buhari in the Presidential Villa. He said while his administration was not contemplating probing Fayose, such power lay within the purview of the anti-graft agencies.

The governor said he never indicated plan to probe Fayose.

“Well, I am sure I have never said anything about probe; and I do not say anything about probe.

“Looking into books is the duty of any new governor; you need to know what you found on place. I just talked about visitation panel into the education sector—institutions in the state.

“There are other sectors in the state; and it will remiss of me not to check what we found when we came into office and share that with the citizens of the state.

“It is just accountability, not probe. I am not Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), there are institutions that are charged with the responsibility to do that and it entirely up to them if they want to probe the governor or not. It is not my business; I leave the governor to God; I have said that before.’’

Fayose is currently being prosecuted by EFCC over an 11-count charge of conspiracy and money laundering.

Meanwhile, an Ado Ekiti Division of the Federal High Court has begun sitting in the suit filed by Segun Oni to challenge the eligibility of Fayemi to contest the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries as a sitting minister.

The case was transferred from an Abuja division of the court to Ado Ekiti last week after the judge handling the matter, Babatunde Quadri was elevated to the Appeal Court.

Oni had filed the suit asking the court to disqualify Fayemi on the ground that he did not resign as Minister of Mines and Steel Development 30 days before the party’s governorship primary in Ekiti.

He also prayed the court to sack Fayemi on the ground that he was indicted by the judicial panel of inquiry set up by the state government.

When the matter came up yesterday, counsel to the applicant, Chief Anthony Adeniyi, had filed a motion to amend the applicant’s response to the preliminary objection of Fayemi and also urged the judge to accelerate the hearing and determination of the case, saying there was no time on the side of the court.