Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State says he will challenge the re-freezing of his account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Ado-Ekiti branch of Zenith Bank Plc.
Fayose, who decried what he described as the brazen disregard to court orders, said the action of the anti-graft agency was an impunity taken too far and it would not go unchallenged.
The governor, who spoke at the weekend during a dinner with journalists, said he was at the bank’s branch in Ado-Ekiti but was prevented from withdrawing money from his account despite the ruling of a Federal High Court which threw out the EFCC’s application for a stay of execution of its earlier judgment that his account at Zenith Bank be de-frozen.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo had last December, ordered the EFCC to de-freeze Fayose’s account, following which the governor went to the bank and was able to withdraw money from the account.
However, the anti-graft agency approached the same court to stay the execution of the judgment, but the court threw out the application, saying the application lacked merit.
Meanwhile, Fayose, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Idowu Adelusi, said when he got to the bank, officials claimed they were acting based on an undated notice of appeal the EFCC claimed it filed.
The governor added: “This is the impunity we are condemning. The bank and the EFCC got all the judgments of the court, but the agency still harassed the bank to act against the law.
“If I sent somebody with a cheque, they could give excuse but I was there myself and acts of impunity such as this cannot continue. We will challenge them.”