Posted by By TOPE ADEBOBOYE on
A principal witness in a murder case against the former governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has confessed that the erstwhile governor and his aides had no hand in the 2005 murder of Mr Tunde Omojola in Ifaki Ekiti, Ekiti State.
A principal witness in a murder case against the former governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has confessed that the erstwhile governor and his aides had no hand in the 2005 murder of Mr Tunde Omojola in Ifaki Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Prince Oluyemi Oke, a major prosecution witness in the alleged murder case, accused the state governor, Mr Olusegun Oni, of deliberately misinforming the public when he alleged on a popular television programme in the state, Gomina N'salaye, that Fayose kicked and actually gave the last blow that caused the late Omojola's death.
Oke's account was contained in a press statement signed by him and made available to the press. His confession corroborates an earlier one by Niyi Adedipe, leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) which claimed that Fayose and his aides were framed up.
'They do not have a hand in the killing of Tunde Omojola but were implicated by me and others in our earlier statement of 9/8/2005. We supported Mr Suliman Labaika of NCP against the PDP candidate, Mrs Niniola Adekanmi both from our community, Ifaki-Ekiti," he stated.
Explaining why the former governor was implicated, Oke said Fayose was party to the rigging of the elections in favour of the PDP candidate as well as ensuring the arrest of NCP members. 'Conscience is an open wound, hence my readiness to say the truth as it is today," he said.
According to him, he had already sworn to an affidavit recanting his earlier statement to the police. A copy of that affidavit, he disclosed, would soon be made public. 'I am fully prepared to come to court to say the whole truth and absolve these innocent people standing trial on the matter when the time comes. Their trial is not only political but against the truth," he asserted.
The witness disclosed that neither Governor Oni nor the state's Attorney General was present at Ifaki on the day the late Omojola was killed, insisting that they couldn't claim to be conversant with the events of that day.
While advising Oni to face the business of governance, Oke urged the governor to stop using the political trial to cover his legitimacy problems.
His words: 'The several adjournments to delay trial is simply because they cannot sustain it or may not have witnesses that will assist the prosecution.
'This press statement is to allow me wash my hands off being part of the persecution and prosecution of innocent people as the whole strategy then was to blackmail and get Fayose removed from office and possibly keep him out of Ekiti politics considering his growing popularity and strong political machinery then.
'I am equally prepared to mention the names of the principal actors, particularly the self-proclaimed human rights activist and lawyer from Ekiti, and the likes behind the conspiracy."