Barring any last minute change of plans, the Ekiti State Government will reopen the case instituted against former Governor of the state, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, Chief Dayo Okondo and others on their alleged involvement in the murder of Tunde Omojola.
The case is among the various plans of the Governor Kayode Fayemi-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government to frustrate the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) before the 21st June 2014 governorship election.
Tunde Omojola, who was at Ifaki-Ekiti during a councillorship by-election, was brutally murdered in the full glare of members of the public in Ifaki-Ekiti on Saturday, 28th May 2005. It was alleged that Fayose gave Omojola a kick in his scrotum, from which he died.
Chief Dayo Okondo, former chairman of Ido/Osi Local Government; Hon Thaddeus Aina, Fayose’s personal assistant; Goke Olatunji and several others were arrested in connection with the murder. They were taken to the Force Headquarters in Abuja, where they made statements. Statements were also taken from eye witnesses, which established the culpability of Fayose in the murder.
One of such eye witnesses is one Akeem Ogunleye, an indigene of Ifaki-Ekiti, who had deposed to an affidavit on 3rd April 2008, detailing how Fayose bribed him with N100, 000 to change his earlier statement on the murder case. He also attached United Bank for Afica (UBA) Deposit Slip number 0672608 with which he deposited N81, 000 out of the N100,000 in his account.
After the impeachment of Fayose and his deputy, Mrs Biodun Olujimi on 16th October 2006, the Police filed charges of murder against Okondo, Aina, Olatunji and others before an Ado-Ekiti High Court. The Police claimed that Fayose was at large.
A Commissioner of Police, Colombus Okaro, who personally came to Ado-Ekiti to file the murder charge, appeared in court with one Ejiofor for the prosecution of the suspects, except Fayose, who was said to be at large.
Subsequently, the attorney-general of Ekiti State in the exercise of his powers, took over the case to ensure and establish a true case against the accused persons. An advice was issued by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) that a case of murder could be sustained against all the suspects and that Fayose should be arraigned and prosecuted if and when found.
The DPP went further to obtain the consent of the Chief Judge of Ekiti State to prefer charges against Fayose. All the applications filed by Fayose to restrain the Police from arresting him were refused by the Federal High Court, Lagos and High Court, Ado Ekiti, with the court maintaining that the Police cannot be prevented from performing its constitutional duties.
“The Tunde Omojola murder case is a living case. It is just a matter of the government reopening the case and revoking the bail granted the accused persons”, a top official of the state government disclosed.
“As at today, there is no court injunction restraining the implementation of the Bench Warrant issued against Fayose in 2008 and what the government is waiting for is the outcome of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primary election in the State before taking the next action. The murder case is among the various counter-measures being lined up to be used against the PDP before the June 21 governorship election”.
