Principal witness absolves Fayose on Omojola’s murder

Dapo Falade, Ado-Ekiti - 31.03.2008

THERE is a new twist to the violence that characterised the May 28, 2005 councillorship bye-election in Ifaki-Ekiti, in Ekiti State, which led to the death of Mr. Tunde Omojola as a principal witness in the subsequent trial has absolved former Governor Ayodele Fayose of any involvement in the event that led to the killing.

Prince Oluyemi Oke, a principal witnes in the murder case, while addressing a news conference in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday, alleged that some powerful politicians in the state used the mayhem to implicate the former governor, insisting that Fayose had no hand in the killing of Omojola.

The witness revealed that he had retracted an affidavit he had earlier deposed to on August 9, 2005 in which he implicated Fayose, revealing that he had made a fresh statement to the police on the matter.

Disclosing that he would soon release the new affidavit he had deposed to with the intent of clearing the air on the Ifaki murder saga, he emphasised that he had no option but to set the records straight following comments made by Governor Oni that “Fayose delivered the kick that actually killed Omojola.

Oke, who is Governor Oni’s kinsman, had earlier been listed as a principal witness in the proposed murder trial but his latest recant of his earlier deposition had added a new twist to the saga.

He maintained that Oni and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Gboyega Oyewole, were not at the scene of the violence in Ifaki-Ekiti on the day of the bye-election, adding that they could claim to have the facts over what transpired at the bye-election.

“I have to make this fact known to the public, especially for the uncharitable comments of Governor Segun Oni on the popular television programme, ‘Gomina N’Salaye’ where he claimed that Governor Fayose gave a kick and the last blow that caused the death of the late Mr. Tunde Omojola. This is not true,” he said.

In a swift reaction, however, the state government noted that Oke was being sponsored by the former governor in a bid to set himself free from the murder charge hanging on his neck.

Speaking through the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communications, Mr. Moses Jolayemi, the government avered that Fayose, in a desperate bid to escape justice, had been propping up people to assist him do damage control, adding that he must be ready to answer all charges preferred against him for alleged crimes committed during his three-and-half-year reign.

Describing the recant of the deposition of Oke’s affidavit as the “hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob,” Jolayemi said the judiciary should be allowed to adjudicate over the matter, admonishing the opposition to stop playing politics with the matter.

“It is very clear from the statement made by the witness that he is being sponsored; it is like the case of the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob.

Fayose is the man pulling the strings from the background but he cannot run away from justice for a long time.

“It doesn’t take anyone any modicum of brain or intelligence to know that Fayose is the one speaking through this person; he is the one using this man in a bid to extricate himself from the web he had put himself.

“This government will not be distracted by this latest act calculated to evade justice and no matter how long he runs from the law, the long arms of the law will catch up with him and I want to state that this government will cooperate with the judiciary in determining this matter,” he said.