Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has insisted that he did not receive a dime from the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), and former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, for the purpose of funding his campaign in the 2014 governorship poll.
Fayose who is under fire for alleged complicity in the sharing of N4.7 billion being part of the $2.1 billion meant for the purchase of arms to fight insurgency in the Northeast alleged that the anti-corruption crusade is being used to settle political scores.
Speaking on Friday in Ado Ekiti at a rally organized by Ekiti Private Sector Union, an amalgamation of informal unions in the state, Fayose claimed that the ongoing onslaught against him was aimed at taking Ekiti by force by the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the next governorship election scheduled for 2018.
He said Ekiti people will defend the state against the “APC invasion” in 2018 saying he is not afraid of death or incarceration in the process of defending the mandate given to him at the June 21, 2014 election.
The governor maintained that the freezing of his personal bank accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was “politically motivated and intended to silence a credible voice of opposition against a dictatorial government.”
Fayose said: “They said I collected a sum of N1.3 billion from the office of the former National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki to fund my election. Some even said I collected it through Mr Musiliu Obanikoro. Let me put it on records that I did not know Col Dasuki and Obanikoro has not come out openly to indict me, because he has not returned from abroad .
“They said similar thing in 2006. It was all about second term then, because they didn’t want me to contest for second term. They said the N1.3b project which I initiated was a scam, but God brought me back. The APC and EFCC conspirators took me before a Judge and I got justice.
“When God says yes, nobody can say no. God has given me uncommon favour over my enemies. I am presently using the mandate of God and Ekiti people and they are ready to defend the mandate and that is why you proudly came out today to express support for me.
“Nigerians have never had it so bad like this. People are suffering and hungry and President Buhari says he is fighting corruption. How can the FG increase fuel from N86 to N145? The price of kerosene is now over N200.
“No act of intimidation and harassment will shut my mouth. I will continue to talk about national issues. When you want to campaign or do marriage, people will give you money and my own can’t be an exemption. I am not afraid of incarceration or death.
“APC problem is 2018 and as the God liveth, they are going nowhere. We will stand up and defend our state and the money they said they have gotten through anti-corruption should be spent for Nigerians.”
The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Chairman, Clement Adekola, his Road Transport Employers Association (RTEAN) counterpart and Okada Riders Association boss, Niyi Dahunsi were inaugurated as Ekiti Private Sector Union Chairman, Secretary and Vice Chairman respectively, among other executive members.
The newly-inaugurated Union pledged their allegiance to Fayose and called on the EFCC to stop distracting Fayose.
Adekola warned the APC against destabilizing Ekiti over the loss it suffered during the 2014 governorship poll.
Agbede asserted that the alleged conspiracy between the federal government and the opposition will fail and won’t materialize, just as he condemned alleged use of federal might to rattle the governor.
