Governor Fayose Was Banned From Entering US Over Corruption, Political Violence A classified US document obtained by SaharaReporters has revealed that the American government in February 2009 banned Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State from getting a visa to enter the US.

A classified US document obtained by
SaharaReporters has revealed that the American
government in February 2009 banned Governor
Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State from getting a visa to
enter the US. It is unclear whether the ban remains
in force.

Mr. Fayose’s wife, Feyisetan Helen Olayemi Fayose,
whose date of birth was given as January 8, 1964,
was also targeted for the visa ban. The document
showed that the US Embassy recommended the
cancellation of her existing visa, which was
supposed to be valid until February 2010.
Other members of the governor’s family
recommended for the 2009 visa ban included his
first son, Oluwajomiloju John Fayose, born on
February 18, 1992. His B2 visa was recommended
for cancellation even though it was supposed to be
valid until July 27, 2010. Also covered by the 2009
visa prohibition recommendation were Mr. Fayose’s
two others sons, Ayorogbayimika Mine Fayose, born
August 1, 1995, and Chukwuemeka Boluwatife
Fayose, born November 5, 1997. Both were to have
their existing visas rescinded, even though the visas
were supposed to be current till July 27, 2010.
An interagency committee at the US Mission in
Nigeria decided to target Mr. Fayose for visa
ineligibility by asking President Barack Obama to
invoke Presidential Proclamation 7750 (PP7750),
after Mr. Fayose's impeachment in 2006.
The classified document indicated that Mr. Fayose
had stolen as much as $81 million from the coffers
of Ekiti State during his inaugural tenure as
governor.

Apart from the main allegation of corrupt
enrichment, in which Mr. Fayose was accused of
using several companies to steal from Ekiti State,
he was also portrayed as having “provided stipends
to people to attend his rallies and paid journalists
to write favorable stories.”
In excluding Mr. Fayose from entry into the US, the
US Embassy also remarked that the governor was
involved in the “triggering of events,” citing him for
using political violence to corrupt elections.
The classified document provided a list of persons
murdered by associates of Mr. Fayose. The murder
victims include Tunde Omojola and Ayo Daramola,
both of them murdered by well-known aides or
associates of Mr. Fayose. Mr. Fayose was also
suspected of involvement in the attempted
assassinations of Taiwo Fasuba, then chairman of
Ado-Ekiti local government area, and Afe Babalola,
a prominent lawyer who hails from Ekiti State.
In a text message to SaharaReporters, Mr. Fayose
suggested that the visa restrictions had been lifted
or that his immediate family members were never
barred from entering the US after all. “My family
(wife and son) was in the US last summer,” the
governor stated in the text. His text further stated,
“I have only been to the US only twice in my life.
During my trial by EFCC between 2007 and 2014, in
2009 the court [asked] that my passport be
deposited with the court. I approached the
American Embassy for renewal [and they] said I can
come back after the trial. I have since won my case
at the Ado Ekiti Federal High Court in 2014, which
discharged and acquitted me. I have not
approached the US Embassy since then.”
Mr. Fayose added he was not aware of any
continuing visa ban targeting him even though he
admitted to our reporter that when he approached
the US Consulate in February 2009, he was told to
go and conclude his corruption trial. He stated that
he had not applied to the US Consulate for travel
ever since he controversially became governor
again in a highly tainted election in 2014.

SaharaReporters learned that Mr. Fayose went into
hiding for several months after he was impeached
as governor of Ekiti State. He then approached the
US Consulate on February 13, 2009, seeking a visa
to visit the US for an “urgent medical issue,” but his
application was denied.