Soyinka Takes A Swipe At Fayose, Advises Buhari

The Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has described Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state as a tout.

Speaking on Wednesday, December 9, at the 10th anniversary of the annual Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, he said Fayose attacked judges publicly without any consequences.

He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop impunity especially by the security operatives in the country, Today.ng reports.

The Nobel Laureate also urged the government to ensure the laws of the country are respected, including the orders of the courts.

He noted that the Nigerian military was in the habit of assaulting ‎and harassing members of the public, which according to him does not portray the country as a democratic country.

Soyinka said: “There must be an end to unlawful detention. If the court has granted someone a bail, it must be honoured, I don’t care what the offence is.

“Anybody or institution that does this can only be compared to that tout in Ekiti. That Fayose, he is a tout. He descended on the judges and attacked them openly without any consequence.”

He therefore challenged security operatives in the country not to take laws into their own hands.

Soyinka also insisted that the report of the inquiry into the recent attack by soldiers on the BRT buses in Lagos must be made public.

He said the claim by the authorities that the matter had been dealt with by the military was not tenable.

The colourful ceremony was held last night at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. The former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and professor of political science, Attahiru Jega, who played an outstanding role in the success of the 2015 elections, and the veteran broadcaster Bimbo Oloyede, were honoured with the Anti-Corruption Defender Award and the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence, respectively.

The award was first held in October 2005 to encourage the development of investigative journalism in the Nigerian media through rigorous scrutiny of human rights violations, regulatory failures and corruption in the public and corporate sectors of the nation.