Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, celebrated his legal triumph at the Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday by joining construction workers to enjoy a meal of amala.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke cleared Fayose of all charges bordering on money laundering and theft amounting to ₦6.9 billion, upholding a no‑case submission filed by his lawyers.
The court held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) failed to establish a prima facie case or directly link him to the alleged offences.
Fayose had been standing trial since 2018, when he was first arraigned before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun.
READ ALSO: EFCC to Appeal Court’s Acquittal of Fayose in ₦6.9bn Fraud Case
The case was later reassigned to Justice Aneke, who on Wednesday discharged and acquitted him.
The EFCC had alleged that Fayose received ₦1.2 billion for his 2014 governorship campaign and collected $5 million in cash from former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, without passing it through a financial institution.
Shortly after the verdict, Fayose was captured in a video posted by Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, sitting among site workers and eating amala to celebrate what he described as justice finally served.