The Ekiti State Government has filed a criminal charge against a former governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and his former Commissioner for Finance, Dapo Kolawole.
The 19 counts filed before the state High Court, Ado Ekiti on Friday, January 26, border on allegation of corruption, abuse of office and criminal contempt, among others.
The state government filed the charges barely two weeks after releasing a white paper, which barred Fayemi and Kolawole from holding a public office for 10 years.
The two were barred based on the report of the Justice Silas Oyewole Judicial Commission of Inquiry, which indicted them over alleged mismanagement of the state’s finances between October 2010 and 2014.
Fayemi, now a Minister of Mines and Steel Development, was the governor within the period. Fayemi and Kolawole did not appear before the commission.
The state government had directed the state’s Ministry of Justice to institute appropriate legal action(s) against Fayemi and others indicted by the commission.
According to the charge sheet No HAD/05c/2018, Fayemi and Kolawole, among other allegations, misappropriated N4.9bn, being the proceeds of the Ekiti State Bond for the sum of N20bn earmarked in the bond prospectus for various projects in the state that were either not done or partly done.
Count 12, which borders on conspiracy to steal, is punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code law, Cap C. 16 Laws of Ekiti State, 2010.
It reads in part:
“That you Dr John Kayode Fayemi and Mr. Vincent Dapo Kolawole, while holding the offices of the executive governor of Ekiti State of Nigeria and commissioner for finance, respectively, sometime between 2011 and 2014, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, conspired to steal the sum of N2.75bn being the sum of money earmarked in the bond prospectus titled, ‘Ekiti State Government of Nigeria, offer for subscription of N20bn.”
On the state’s N25bn bond, Fayemi and Kolawole were accused of stealing the sum of N716m out of the N750m earmarked in the bond prospectus and released for the construction of the Ekiti State School of Agriculture out of which only N33m was allegedly spent, N198m being outstanding fund from the N500m earmarked in the bond prospectus and released for the construction of the Ekiti State liaison office in Lagos, out of which only N301m was allegedly expended for the said projects.
