Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose, has condemned prominent Nigerian lawyer and human activist, Femi Falana over the statements he made concerning his immunity as a governor in Nigeria.
In a statement by his spokesman, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said Falana is a "mischievous lawyer" and a disgrace to the Nigerian Bar Association.
He said the lawyer is "only deceiving the EFCC" because he wants to contest the Ekiti state governorship election in 2018, "thinking that he can achieve what he used the EFCC to achieve against Fayose in 2006 ten years after."
“The court order is a condition precedent before a bank account can be frozen and Section 34 of the EFCC Act is very clear on this. It is unambiguous. It presupposes that EFCC cannot freeze the bank account of any Nigerian, no matter the status, without first obtaining a court order and making same available to the bank manager.
“This position was also expressed by Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday when he ordered the EFCC to pay N12.5 million damages to the son of former Governor Murtala Nyako, Senator Abdulaziz Nyako, for the unlawful freezing of his account and illegal detention.
“It is therefore strange that a SAN could tell Nigerians that EFCC can carry out an action first and obtain a court order to justify the action later.
“If I may ask, was Falana called to the bar before he attended law school and passed his bar exams? Was Falana’s LLB certificate given to him before he got admission to the university? Was Falana’s Barrister at Law (BL) certificate issued to him before he attended the law school? Was Falana’s birth certificate issued before he was born? Was Falana’s marriage certificate issued before he got married? Has Falana ever travelled to UK or USA and obtained a visa later? Can I, because I can now quote some laws begin to practice as a lawyer and go to university to study law later?” he demanded to know.
He also accused Falana of being partial as a human rights activist.
"Over 10 Ekiti indigenes were murdered during the APC government of Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Falana kept silent. He also kept silent when the future of Ekiti State was being mortgaged to frivolous loans and deductions from workers salary were not being remitted. It also made no meaning to Falana that democratically-elected local government chairmen and councillors were sacked and council election was not conducted throughout the four years of APC government in Ekiti State.
“Instead of hiding under human rights activism to perpetrate evil against Ekiti and its people as he has always done, Falana should be bold enough to declare his governorship ambition, which is not hidden and let’s see how far he can go this time around.
“Like we have maintained, this is 2016 and 2006 that Falana and his criminal collaborators used EFCC to remove governors, Fayose whose impeachment was later declared illegal by the Supreme Court.”
ThisDay
Tags:
Politics