Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana
By Femi Falana
Sometime in 2004, Governor Ayo Fayose was reported by The News magazine to have stolen N1.2 billion from the coffers of Ekiti State government. The brutal killings in the state were also traced to a killer squad funded by the governor. Embarrassed by the publication Mr. Fayose sued the magazine at the high court holden at Ado Ekiti. Our law firm defended the magazine and pleaded justification. At the trial of the case, the allegations in the publication were proved beyond any shadow of doubt. In dismissing the suit the trial judge said that Mr. Fayose had no reputation worthy of protection by any court.
The allegation of the looting of the treasury of the state was investigated by the EFCC which proceeded to charge Mr. Fayose at the Federal High Court. The Police also charged him with the murder of Tunde Omojola at the Ekiti state high court. Both cases were pending in court when he contested and ‘won’ the Ekiti State governorship election. Shortly thereafter, a young army officer, Captain Sagir Koli exposed the involvement of some armed personnel led by General Aliyu Momoh in the coup which led to the ‘re-election’ of Governor Fayose. All the criminal suspects initially denied their involvement in the criminal enterprise. But when confronted with the tape recording of the plot to manipulate the election Mr. Fayose admitted that he took part in the coup.
Based on the expose by Captain Koli the authorities of the Nigerian Army set up a panel of enquiry to investigate the role of the armed soldiers in the violent subversion of the democratic process in Ekiti State. The panel conducted the inquiry and identified the military officers and soldiers who participated in the coup which led to the pyrrhic victory of …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
