Almost 72 hours after he was granted bail by a Federal High Court in Lagos, the immediate past governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, is yet to regain freedom from the custody of the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), where he was remanded by the trial judge, Justice Mojisola Olatoregun.
Though he was said to have later met his bail condition as at 2pm on Friday, Newsflash247 learnt that the continued incarceration of Fayose was as a result of a sudden distance created by some of his old friends and allies, who were expected to stand as sureties but refused to show up and sign his bail bond, a notion denied by a media aide to the ex-governor,
Lere Olayinka said by Monday, when he is expected to be released, Fayose would have spent two weeks (14 days) in incarceration, having been detained since Tuesday October 16, when he voluntarily submitted himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is trying him on an 11-count allegations of fraud.
The judge had granted Fayose bail in the sum of N50 million with two sureties in like sum and also ordered that the sureties must issue a N50 million bond from a reputable bank as well as possess three years tax clearance.
Sources privy to happenings around the former governor confided that the “cowards” were said to have deserted the former governor out of fear of being monitored by the police, the EFCC, and other anti-graft agencies. “He was looking for only two sureties, just two and they could not show up. The bail conditions were not too stringent, it is what many people would easily do but his fair-weather friends were nowhere to be found.
“They all left since his travails begun, they are afraid of being witch-hunted by the EFCC and the ICPC (Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences Commission). They are cowards. They wined and dined with him but now left him to his fate”, a female judicial officer, who claimed to be Fayose’s associate said.
Further investigations by our correspondent also revealed that only a handful of those claiming to be Fayose’s friends had summoned the courage to either visit him or show solidarity as expected of friends of any man of that calibre. In the same vein, it was discovered that the ex-governor, contrary to some media reports is in the custody of the Nigeria Prisons Service and no longer with the EFCC.
Though Justice Olatoregun had ordered that Fayose is placed under the protection of the NPS, the former governor was seen on Wednesday leaving the court premises in company with EFCC officials. This had fuelled speculations that Fayose was with the anti-graft commission as against the order of the judge. Confirming that Fayose is with the NPS, his media aide, Lere Olayinka on Friday emphatically told newsmen that his boss is with “prisons”.
Olayinka did not only confirm that, he also established that his principal would be leaving the prison custody on Monday, while denying that Fayose’s friends had dumped him. In his response to an earlier WhatsApp message sent to him on Thursday to confirm the authenticity of the report, Olayinka wrote: “Papers were ready as at 4pm today (Thursday) but the judge had closed for the day.
The major condition was N50m insurance bond, which required a lot of paper works”. Again, yesterday, when it became obvious to our correspondent that the ex-governor might not regain freedom last night and might be in custody till Monday, another WhatsApp message was sent to Olayinka, who this time called and took his time to clarify the reasons for Fayose’s continued incarceration, explained in details what transpired.
“This thing is about an insurance bond, it is not that we didn’t meet the bail conditions. We met it and I even put on my twitter handle that we had met it but that Oga would be going home on Monday. Olayinka further explained that there were some errors on the part of the ex-governor’s team, owing to the non-usage of a specific letterhead paper belonging to a learned silk, Kanu Agabi (SAN). “This is what happened: We had signed the bond and we were ready as early as 11am.
We were so confident of it but unfortunately, we wrote on the letterhead paper of a lawyer, which the judge turned down. “The judge insisted that it must be on the letterhead of the lead counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN).
We had to move to the chambers of the lawyer but by the time we were through with that, we were again told that we were supposed to file it as an application not as an ordinary letter. “All these led to the delay. And you know that, today, being Friday, some of them had to go to the Mosque for Juma’at service. By the time we returned around 2pm, the judge had left.
So, it is unfortunate we are going to wait till Monday. “But everything had been perfected, and that is why I put it on twitter and even if you check Oga’s twitter handle, it is there. So, it is not true that his friends have abandoned him.
That is not correct. A court official who refused to be identified also corroborated Olayinka’s story, saying that the verification of the N50 million bond had to be done and that the trial judge had left when the lawyers to the accused arrived from Agabi’s office.
But when probed further that the judge was supposed to close by 4pm, he claimed that Justice Olatoregun had to go for Juma’at service, an argument punctuated by our correspondent, challenging him that her lordship is a Christian.
The court official, however, insisted that the former governor has met his bail conditions, but will not be able to go home until the bail bonds are verified by the court registrar as ordered by the court. “They have to wait till Monday when the Registrar will verify all the detail”,
he said.
