The immediate past governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, who was released on bail from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has no reason to flee the country according to his lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Mike Ozekhome.

During an interview with Channels Television, Ozekhome revealed that his client regained his freedom after meeting the bail conditions and will remain a good citizen who uphold the law of the land at all times.

The former governor spent two weeks in the EFCC custody from the day he left office. Mr Fayose had reported at the office of the anti-graft agency in Abuja on October 16, after handing over government to his successor, Governor Kayode Fayemi.

A day after, the EFCC released some pictures showing properties allegedly owned by the former governor. The EFCC said it uncovered the properties while investigating the allegations of corruption against the former governor, but Fayose has since denied the allegation and asked the agency to charge him to court.

On Monday last week, the anti-corruption agency arraigned the former governor before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court in Lagos on 11 charges of conspiracy and money laundering. Fayose pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The court granted him bail, two days later, in the sum of N50million and adjourned his trial until November 19. Justice Olatoregun had asked the former governor to provide two sureties who must issue a N50million bond in a reputable bank, as well as possess three years of tax clearance.

She also ordered him to deposit his international passport with the court. A media aide to the former governor, Lere Olayinka, also confirmed Fayose’s freedom in a tweet. 

Fayose became the second governor of Ekiti on 29th Of May, 2003, after defeating the then incumbent Governor Niyi Adebayo in the gubernatorial elections. Fayose could not complete his tenure as a result of an impeachment on 16th Of October, 2006.

During the 2014 Governorship election in Ekiti State, Peter Ayodele Fayose was again the PDP nominee. He won the election and was declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission as the new Governor of Ekiti State; he was inaugurated on 16th Of October, 2014. Fayose is now the only Nigerian to defeat an incumbent two times.

Fayose has publicly declared his intentions to run for president in Nigerian general election, 2019. Though his party, The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has admonished the Governor, against his ambition to be the party’s presidential candidate in 2019 but has recently withdrawn his quest.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission froze four Zenith Bank accounts used by Fayose to launder money for his Ekiti governorship election in 2014 in a lawsuit no. FHC/CS?871/2016 titled “Federal Republic of Nigeria Vs Zenith bank PLC account numbers 1003126654, 9013074033, 1010170969 and 1013835889.”

The judge Justice Mohammed Idris had granted the EFCC on June 24th, 2016 an order to freeze all the funds in the said accounts in Zenith Bank. Two accounts belong to Governor Ayo Fayose while the third belongs to his hotel Spotless Hotel in Ado Ekiti. The fourth account was operated by one of Fayose’s aides, Abiodun Agbele, who is under EFCC custody.

The EFCC had alleged that those accounts possessed funds, said to be about N4.7 billion (US$20mn)stolen from the office of the National Security Adviser, with most of the money secretly retained by Fayose for his personal use after the election.