Newspaper Review: How Fayose reacted after EFCC froze his account

– The personal accounts of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state and those of some of his associates have been frozen by the EFCC

– The EFCC said immunity does not stop the commission from investigating suspicious account belonging to any governor

– Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu would be arraigned today barring any last minute change on a two-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy and forgery

– The Naira traded between N253 and N281.5 to the dollar yesterday as the new exchange rate regime began

Major Nigerian dailies are for Tuesday, June 21, are focused on various national issues such as the freezing of Governor Ayodele Fayose’s personal account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the controversy trailing the forgery of the Standing Rule of the 2015 Senate.

The Nation reports that the personal accounts of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state and those of some of his associates were frozen on the orders of the EFCC.

A visibly angry Fayose stormed the premises of Zenith Bank, Ado-Ekiti, where he has his personal account, screaming that he had immunity and would contest the freeze but the bankers remained unmoved.

The governor therefore called on the federal government to fight corruption within the ambit of the law.

In reaction, the EFCC said Fayose cannot stop the anti-graft commission from doing its job.

EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren said the account was frozen because governors have no immunity against investigation and Fayose is not an exception.

A top official of the anti-graft agency said Fayose’s personal account was frozen following clues on alleged “suspicious lodgments”.

Vanguard reports that this action immediately prompted diverse reactions.

Prof Itse Sagay, the chairman of the presidential advisory committee on corruption, said the anti-graft agency had the power to freeze accounts or assets of anyone under investigation.

Also speaking, Chief Emeka Ngige said the commisiion can freeze any account irrespective of who owns it, during an investigation. “It is not touching the account but just suspending the usage of the account,” he added.

On his part, Ozekhome said it is illegal and unconstitutional for the account of a sitting governor to be frozen while in office.

In other news, The Punch reports that Bukola Saraki, the Senate president; Ike Ekweremadu, his deputy, and others accused of forgery of the Standing Rule of the Senate 2015, are to be arraigned before a Federal Capital Territory High Court on Tuesday (today) barring any last-minute change of plans.

Also, Saraki and Ekweremadu, on Monday, said they had yet to be served the court process concerning the suit instituted against them by the federal government.

In June 2015, Saraki, Ekweremadu, a former clerk to the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa, and his then deputy, Benedict Efeturi, were charged with two counts of criminal conspiracy and forgery of the Standing Rules used for the leadership election of the presiding officers of the Senate.

The federal government said the offence of conspiracy was punishable under Section 97 (1) of the Penal Code Act; and offence of forgery with “fraudulent intent” punishable under Section 364 of the same law.

Daily Sun reports that Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress said the party would investigate the forgery allegation.

According to him, the allegation of forgery should also be considered very important.

He said: “At this stage, l don’t think there is anything to say. In fact, everything is still a guess work. Nobody has said yes or have they been arrested or asked to make statement or whatever. As a party we do not think it is part of our business to interfere in judicial matters of that nature. We will just wait and see as we are even making investigation to be sure that is the situation.”

Ekweremadu noted that it was a fresh attempt to witch-hunt him, adding that he was not scared of the fresh suit.

Meanwhile, as the new exchange rate regime begins, the Naira traded at between N253 and N281.5 to the dollar, The Guardian reports.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday executed over $4 billion in foreign exchange transactions.

The transactions, which were made up of $3.5 billion in forward sales and about $530 million at the interbank market, were targeted at clearing up the huge backlog of demands that have remained unmet.

Isaac Okorafor, the acting director Corporate Communications of the Bank, said the CBN was happy that its objectives to clear the forex demand backlog, perform its role as strictly a market intervention participant and re-launch a functioning and efficient inter-bank market, were being met.

 

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