Barely weeks after the Ekiti State Ministry of Urban & Physical Planning sealed two houses allegedly traced to immediate past Governor Ayodele Fayose within the Government Reservation Area (GRA) in Ado-Ekiti, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were in the state capital yesterday to seal some buildings allegedly linked to the former governor.
Some of the sealed properties include a hotel and event centre at Fajuyi; two houses at the GRA; the People’s 104.1 FM radio station and a two-storey building in Okesa.
Also seized are a high rise building located opposite Local Government Service Commission (LGSC) on Iyin Road and a petrol station under construction at Odo Otu, Atikankan area.
The EFCC officials, wearing their red jackets, were seen at about 10.35 am placing a sealing order on the properties.
The official seal pasted on the properties reads: “Order from EFCC: This structure is under investigation. Keep Off”.
The two houses sealed about a month ago by Urban & Physical Planning officials were said to have been built without approved plans.
Yesterday’s operation by the EFCC operatives came barely days after members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Society staged a public protest against the former governor, accusing him of illegally acquiring a parcel of land belonging to the group to build a filling station for his son.
Fayose is standing trial before a Federal High Court in Lagos. He is facing a money laundering charge for allegedly receiving about N2 billion from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The cash was allegedly received from the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) to finance Fayose’s 2014 governorship campaign.
But Fayose has accused the EFCC of sealing houses belonging to innocent people under the guise that the houses were linked to him.
In a statement by his media aide Lere Olayinka, the former governor denied ownership of the properties, accusing the agency of “blackmail and media trial.”
The statement reads: “Just been informed that operatives of the EFCC in collaboration with the APC government in Ekiti are going about sealing houses of innocent people in the state, under the guise that the houses are linked to me.
“This is another wild goose chase and the usual media campaign against my person.
“It is only in our country that an anti-corruption agency will first go about sealing houses before determining the ownership, which can be done so easily by visiting relevant agencies.
“I am therefore informing the public ahead of their usual blackmail and media trial. None of the properties in question is owned by me and the records are there for anyone that is interested to see.
“The EFCC is advised to stop going about looking for ways to malign my person just because of their hatred as a result of my uncompromising stand on national issues.
“Even if the commission is being pressured from ‘above’ to persecute Fayose at all cost, it should, at least, do its job diligently to save itself from persistent embarrassment.”