Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has denied reports that he promised to fund the movement of the corpse of late Nollywood actress, Moji Olaiya, from Canada to Nigeria.
According to the governor, “No official request has been made to the government in respect of the burial.”
Special Assistant to the State Governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, who spoke on his principal’s behalf in a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Monday, described as irresponsible, comment credited to Olukayode Salako, husband of another Nollywood actress, Foluke Daramola, claiming Fayose declined request to assist with the flying of the corpse to Nigeria.
“It is totally irresponsible on the part of the said Olukayode Salako, who is said to be the husband of actress Foluke Daramola to have taken to the online media to disparage the person of the governor when even family members and genuine friends of the deceased are mourning her and seeking means of according her a befitting burial,” the statement said.
The governor’s spokesperson, who maintained that there was no official communication between Fayose and Moji Olaiya’s family, disclosed that “On Thursday, last week, I was contacted on phone by a journalist friend, Yomi Fabiyi on the need for the Ekiti State Government to assist in raising a sum of $15,000 needed to bring Moji Olaiya’s corpse to Nigeria.
“My immediate response was that an official request, via a letter should be made and that the letter will be presented to the governor. I gave him my email address to which I said the letter should be sent.
“On Friday, I informed the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Chief Dipo Anisulowo of my telephone conversation with Yomi Fabiyi, and my response that official letter should be written to the governor.
“Up till today, the letter has not been sent and as such, no official request has been made to the State Government.
“When my attention was drawn to online publication that Governor Fayose had elected to fund the flying of the deceased corpse to Nigeria, I called the journalist who did the report and told him pointedly that no such decision was taken by the governor. It was on the strength of this that Mr Yomi Fabiyi issued a press statement on behalf of the Burial Committee, stating that no request had been made to the government of Ekiti State and the official letter requested was yet to be sent.”
He added that it beats imagination that Salako could make “derogatory comments on the governor, purportedly on behalf of the family.”
“While we condole with the Olaiya family of Ijesha Isu Ekiti, Moji Olaiya’s friends, fans and colleagues in the movie industry, we wish to advise that the family should saddle only responsible people with the task of according their daughter a befitting burial,” the statement concluded.
