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• It’s cheap blackmail, says ex-commissioner
Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has accused former governor of the state and current Minister of Steel and Mine Development, Kayode Fayemi, of allegedly blocking the refund of over N11 billion from the Federal Government to the covers of the state.
Also accused are the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a former commissioner for finance, Dapo Kolawole.
Fayose said Fayemi and others stopped the refund through a law suit instituted by Kolawole against the state government to challenge a 10-year ban on him for alleged graft while in office.
While Fayemi denied having hand in the development, Kolawole accusedFayose of blackmail, and said the legal action was only to defend his name.
Speaking at a press briefing yesterday, Fayose said he had planned to use the refund to pay the outstanding salaries of Ekiti civil servants, adding that it was the hope that the money would soon be paid that made him to constantly assure the workers that he would not leave the office a debtor on October 16.
The governor also accused the federal government of stopping payment due to the state as refund on road projects.
“It is with heavy heart and deep sense of responsibility that I address you today on the latest display of deep-seated hatred against Ekiti State and its people by leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), especially Dr. Fayemi. When I said I won’t leave office as a debtor of salary, I was sure that the over N11 billion owed the state by the federal government on construction and rehabilitation of federal roads will be paid this month.
“However, I am shocked that in their usual characteristics of working against every effort to alleviate the sufferings of the people, Fayemi, through his finance commissioner, Kolawole, went to court in Abeokuta seeking an order that the N11 billion refund should not be paid to my administration. Because of this court action, the refund which should have been made this month is said to have been stopped,” he said.
He said the latest onslaught was aimed at destabilising the state government ahead of the July governorship election.
Fayose said it is worrisome that it was the same APC administration of Fayemi that ran the state into huge debts, which led to the irregular payment of workers’ salary.
Reacting, Kolawole said: “The governor is only trying to blackmail myself and Fayemi with his allegations. Has he not been collecting budget support from the federal government? Has he used the money to pay workers’ salaries. I have only gone to court to defend my name as an accountant and I have the right to so do.
“Fayose said Fayemi committed Ekiti to N86 billion debt to be repaid up to 2036, but the reality is that while we owed only N30 billion, we had a refund of N17 billion from the federal government on projects and we also had N5 billion in government covers before leaving, so what the Fayemi’s administration actually owed was less than N5 billion,” he said.
In another development, Ekiti State chapter of APC, has supported the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the president deserves the second term considering his achievements in office.
