The former Chairman of the Ekiti State Microcredit and Enterprise Development Agency, Akogun Abayomi Olumide popularly called ‘Lustay’, has explained that he was sacked by Governor Oyebanji for supporting a governorship aspirant, Kayode Ojo, ahead of the 2026 gubernatorial election.
Speaking with journalists on Sunday, Lustay claimed that the governor didnot give his office support neither did he give him free hand to operate, saying he had prepared his resignation letter to be dropped on Monday before he was hurriedly sacked on Saturday night.
“I believe politics is a matter of choice, not force. As a citizen, I have the right to support anyone I choose. But because I supported Kayode Ojo, I was victimized.
“I am supporting Kayode Ojo because I no longer have confidence in Oyebanji’s leadership.I made frantic efforts to see the governor when I detected
some fraudulent activities within the agency but I was not given audience”
Narrating how the fraudulent activities started, Lustay’ said
“Let me start from the Central Bank. During my investigation, CBN said we should recover funds amounting to ₦1.6 billion. They directed us to go ahead with the recovery.
“But along the line, we met bottlenecks. Politicians were interfering, saying the money was not disbursed by us. Because of these obstacles, we decided to stop and recommended that those who issued the money should be responsible for the recovery.
“So, in view of that, we continued with our own mandate. Later, we read in the news that the state government released ₦500 million to BOSAC Microfinance, a company that had just opened in Ekiti. We wanted to understand the modus operandi and how they intended to disburse the funds.
“We discovered it was meant to be a counterpart arrangement—BOSAC was supposed to contribute 125% of the ₦500 million. But their own contribution was not forthcoming. Our board even held a virtual meeting with BOSAC, but they told us the MOU signed with the state did not include our agency.
“That means we were completely sidelined. People outside were asking me, as the chairman of the microfinance agency, about the disbursement. I told them we had no hand in it. That was the beginning of the loggerhead.
“At that point, I even considered resigning but board members persuaded me to be patient. We wanted to see the governor and report the situation, but there was no access.
“So I concluded there were shady dealings within the agency which were not known to me as chairman. The public was not benefiting from the disbursement. That’s why I stopped going to the office and made my intention to resign clear. I even prepared my resignation letter to be submitted on Monday.
“However, on Saturday night, I heard on the radio that I had been relieved of my position for “gross misconduct and dereliction of duty.” They asked me to hand over properties in my care. But I had no office property, I didn’t sign cheques, I didn’t disburse money, and no funds were allocated to the agency. So, I don’t know what I was supposed to surrender, my personal vehicle, my house, or my wife’s car?
While urging Ekiti residents to ignore the lies being peddled by the state government, Akogun Lustay urged residents to support Ojo’s candidacy which he said represents hope for Ekiti people.
“Kayode Ojo is an industrialist, a man of impeccable character, who has managed businesses and created jobs for many people. That’s why I supported him, Ekiti will be in safe hands with Kayode Ojo”