TheCable

The Ekiti state house of assembly has summoned Ayodele Fayose, former governor of the state, over alleged misappropriation of local government funds during his tenure.

The assembly directed the ex-governor to appear before lawmakers during plenary on Thursday.

Also summoned by the assembly is Dapo Olagunju, former chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) in the state; Kola Kolade, former commissioner for local government affairs in Ekiti; and 16 former local government chairmen in the state.

The assembly also summoned Lere Olayinka, Fayose’s media aide, over alleged misappropriation of more than N13 million commercial revenue while serving as supervisor at the state broadcasting service.

Ayokunle Yemisi, chairman of the house committee on media and public affairs, alleged that Olayinka mismanaged the fund of the state broadcasting service which subjected the organization to serious debt.

She accused Olayinka of purchasing two cellphones at N430,000 and approving for himself a travel allowance of N7 million and accommodation fees of about N14 million.

Reacting to the development, Olayinka, in a statement, said the ex-governor will not subject himself to the scrutiny of those, who according to him, are under the control of the incumbent governor.

“Ex-Governor Ayo Fayose will not dignify an assembly of clowns who are under the total control of a governor who is desperately in search of ways to cover his electoral thievery and failure to secure the acceptance of Ekiti people,” he said.

“If they have any evidence of financial impropriety against him (Fayose), they can ask the man who used SMS to appoint them to invite EFCC operatives and accommodate them in the Government House as he has done on many occasions. As for us, we are moving on.”

Fayose is being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged money laundering.

He was first arraigned alongside Spotless Limited,  his company.