No arrest or detention’ll make me betray Fayose- Hon. Akanni

A member of the House of Assembly, Hon. Afolabi Afolabi Akanni, who was arrested by men of the Department of State Services recently, on Thursday arrived in Ekiti, insisting that no arrest or detention will make him betray Fayose, rather, he declared that what he went through in the detention would make him to be more loyal to Governor Ayo Fayose.

Akanni, representing Efon Alaaye constituency, was arrested on March 4 by DSS and had since been detained in Abuja until he was released on Tuesday after spending 18 days in the custody.

Another arrested state official and ex-Special Assistant on revenue to the governor, Mr. Ropo Ogunjobi, was also in the state with Fayose.

Fayose came in company of the two ex-detainees aboard a chopper marked 5N-BRL at about 3.38pm, and landed at Christ’s School playing ground, in Ado Ekiti, where they were welcomed by mammoth crowd, comprising members of the House of assembly, led by the speaker, Hon. Kola Oluwawole and other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters.

Akanni, who vowed never to betray Fayose declared that his arrest and detention had further fortified his loyalty to Fayose, describing the governor as a reliable leader, adding that in spite of what he went through while at the DSS office in Abuja, he will never be a party to Fayose’s impeachment.

“What manner of democracy are we practicing? How can DSS invaded a House of Assembly and arrested a lawmaker with intention to impeach a governor? They even came without a warrant of arrest. Is this democracy?

“Is it an offence to be loyal or honest to a governor? Fayose is our leader and I can’t betray him. Ekiti people must stand behind him. Mr. Governor, I am assuring you that I will always stand by you”, he assured.

Also the second detainee, Ogunjobi, revealed that the DSS during interrogation accused him of laundering a sum of N22 billion being amount paid on federal roads to Ekiti by the federal government into Fayose’s accounts, which he described as a blatant lie.

“They even said I helped Fayose to launder another N1.3 billion out of the N2.5 billion ecological fund released to the state. I said all these were lies. I can’t lie against Mr. Governor”.

Speaking earlier, Fayose who lambasted former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Buhari, regretted that “past military dictators were endangering Nigerian democracy”, and urged Nigerians not to vote for any military man into any sensitive position to preserve Nigerian democratic values.

“Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Olusegun Obasanjo are not democrats. They have no respect for the constitution and the rule of law. But no matter what they do, we won’t succumb to intimidation.

“Today, I am excited, because we have won the battle again. They took Hon. Akanni to Abuja as a captive, but he is back now as a hero, shame onto DSS, shame onto our oppressors.

“Our economy is bad, people are losing their jobs on daily basis, but what the APC knows how to do best is to lie to the people. They have no answer to this bad economic situation. When PDP was in government, a dollar was N200, but today, it is almost N400, shame onto them.

“We thank God that we have a House of Assembly that refused to join forces with them to remove the governor. That was why I told them that they had engaged a wrong customer. They should forget about impeachment, because this is not 2006.

“President Muhammadu Buhari should face Nigerian financial problems.

Though they cannot perform because they took Nigerians votes by tricks”, Fayose said.

ing up in the affected states.

The BACCIMA President, who is also the chairman of Bureau de Change in the state, explained that the chamber suspended trade fair in the state for some years following the security situation in the area, he, however, announced his plan to hold the fair in the state as security situation improves.

He nonetheless eulogized the effort of the military especially the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Burutai for his relentless effort in restoring peace in the affected zone.

The President noted that though President Buhari is the Chief security officer of the nation, the bulk of the task lie with the security chiefs who work day and night to guarantee the safety of lives and property in the country.

He also commended Borno State governor, Kashim Shetima for his steadfastness and doggedness in ensuring that peace returns to the troubled region, saying that he (Shettima) stays with the people in the state throughout the trying period.