Fashola should stop running his mouth, he’s a product of god- fatherism–Ayo Fayose The Governor-elect of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, in this interview with NIYI ODEBODE and ADELANI ADEPEGBA , comments on the controversy over his victory and politics in the South-West Many people were shocked by the result of the Ekiti governorship election. Were you also shocked? No, we know the facts on ground. We live by realities, not propaganda. There are no Nigerian politicians, serious politicians, irrespective of their political parties, that do not know that Fayose is on the ground and that Fayose’s name is a household name in Ekiti. Despite the fact that I have left office for eight years, I remain with the people. I have fought several elections, for and in support of even the All Progressives Congress. I supported Kayode Fayemi in the rerun. I was the beautiful bride then. It is their way when the going is good with them; when you are fighting on their side, you are the best in the world. Then, you will not be a criminal; then you will not be 419er; then you have integrity, then you will be celebrated. When you are against them; when you humble them, they call you all sorts of names. They look for theories that do not go with reality. How would you respond to Governor Fashola’s comment that Governor Fayemi accepted defeat because he did not want bloodshed in Ekiti? I really don’t want to join issues with them, particularly, Governor Fashola because I like him so much. I like his person and I have a lot of respect for him. But Governor Fashola is talking from two sides of his mouth. They say Fayose is not educated, according to them, but he is educated. He is learned but Fashola is not a product of internal democracy. Governor Fashola is a product of imposition, of god-fatherism. I remember when Fashola and Asiwaju Tinubu had issues, there were trumped-up charges against him through the House of Assembly. I remember vividly that he had to go to the court to clip their wings, otherwise they would have messed him up. And even at that, they still kept a tab on him. How would you be a governor, not elected in a transparent primary, but selected by one leader and you would still be surprised if an election was won through due process? Fashola knows that when he accused Asiwaju of not allowing due process or internal process in the party, Bola Tinubu told him, ‘Have you forgotten that if I followed due process, you would not be governor?’ So he cannot appreciate due process politically. When they were nominating commissioners, he didn’t have one commissioner. He cannot equally say this is my deputy. You know I chose my deputy myself, against all the odds. They gave him a deputy governor, probably, the only person I think he owns now is his wife. I am sure Fashola has forgotten that he is a lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and that the constitution of Nigeria says a man is adjudged innocent until otherwise proved by a court of competent jurisdiction. I don’t want to say anything negative about him. I would have asked a special adviser or somebody working under me to reply him, but because he is a governor, I have to reply him myself. Let me remind him very quickly, I was governor before him. He was an ordinary chief of staff at that time. I am his senior politically. If at all he knows anything about politics, I am his senior. We know the intrigues more than him. It is true he is sitting on a prime state like Lagos under the watch of his godfather, but he should not run his mouth. It is unfortunate that a man at his level is talking like that. I am an institution like his godfather in Ekiti. When I started, I didn’t have a godfather. I didn’t have anybody like the Saraki of Ilorin who put Bukola Saraki there. They should learn to allow democracy to run. I want to tell them, if care is not taken, they would lose Lagos. The tide, the movement is against them. One thing with the APC is that they would lure you to defect, the moment you defect, they would go and put you on the reserve bench. That is why they don’t have support continuously. When you work for them, as soon as you are used, they dump you. You can imagine a governor who is supposed to pay salaries and he refused to pay for two, three months, and election is coming, he is now rushing, borrowing money. The civil servants are now telling him, thank God for Ekiti election, if not for Ekiti election, this man would not pay us. Who is fooling who? Look at the heavy tax burden in Lagos, in all their states. The Tsunami is going to consume them and I am telling you the truth, it is not personal. I am not boasting, I am an institution in Ekiti. What is the business of Fashola in Ekiti? The problem is that they have all put their resources in Ekiti election and they lost. The bookmakers failed. Despite the fact that Fayemi conceded defeat, you described it as political gimmick. Why? Governor Fayemi does not have a choice than to concede. It is only honourable for him and I will continue to respect him even when it’s obvious he had no choice but to concede, that is the truth. In my village, people say if everybody doesn’t know the truth, you that is affected by an incident knows the truth; a sick man knows he is having pain in his tummy. Governor Fayemi knows the situation is bad. But some people have argued that your victory was achieved through inducement of voters with rice and money? Unfortunately, they (APC members) are the ones sharing money. I complained about them sharing money, check the records. In 2011, they brought money to every polling booth. Those people that were arrested during elections were caught with money. Which party did they belong to? The issue here is that they all know it. They are the ones that engaged in money politics. They buy all the buy-ables. I have been out of office for eight years, where will I get that kind of money to buy votes? The issue remains that somebody that eats your food must be convinced before he can vote for you. Can a meal of rice induce somebody to vote for you? Fayemi gave cooked rice, I gave uncooked rice. This is politics and you need everything to entice voters and rice was shared by me, almost two weeks before election. Did you have to do that? Yes. Why was Governor Fayemi buying buses and inscribing Iyaloja, Igbo community on them close to the election period? Why was Governor Fayemi’s wife donating garri to the farmsteads? Why was he giving money to aged citizens and giving gifts including recharge cards to the people? Why did his wife do that? These are petty antics of politicians to draw voters and that does not change anything. A container of rice would not change the mind of anybody because the rice cannot last you till the election day. When you attend ward meetings, you give your people money because some of them may have come to meet you from various villages. You see, when you fail, you must accept and Fayemi lives in Ekiti and we are there together. Are they now holier than the Pope? Most of the hotels in Ekiti were booked by Governor Fayemi six months before the election and they gave rooms to all the policemen that came for the election. We knew what transpired. Fayemi has been honourable. Their fear is not about Ekiti anymore. They are saying all these because of Osun election. When something is consuming you, you will hold on to anything and all things. If you look at them very well, they were in shock for the first three days after the Ekiti election, they had to summon a NEC meeting to take a decision. They had to look for words, which they coined to describe what happened because they were caught by the reality of the international accreditation of that election which was adjudged free and fair. The court is the highway for them, but they will meet us there. Are they the owners of the court? They are not. They always think they know it all. There is a belief that federal might played a role in your victory. I don’t know what is called federal might. In those days, they used to snatch ballot boxes, you can’t do that again. There used to be multiple thumb printing, but the ballot papers are now customised to the polling booth and the ward. Even if you want to help somebody rig the election, it is not easy anymore. They should stop lying. Some of them said they militarised Ekiti and brought so many security personnel. The question is that the law is not made for the godly, but for the ungodly. The military personnel were not for those that wanted to vote peacefully, they were for those that wanted to create problems. Some of them came to Ekiti with voter’s cards that did not belong to them, stayed in various hotels and had charms on them, they were caught. Who were the people that were arrested in Anambra? Were they not APC members? The same APC members and it is their method to always want to change the story. Thank God, Fayemi was honourable enough. I remember Governor Adebayo did the same thing. Na today them dey lie? It is not today. Is it true that Ekiti voters did not sack Governor Fayemi for non-performance? Governor Fayemi did not perform, that is the truth. I stand to be corrected, but he did not perform. Let me ask him one question: Governor Fayemi should tell Ekiti and the public one road project initiated and completed by his administration-from bush clearing, earth removal, sand filling, compacting, surface dressing, drainage works, culvert, asphalt overlay, none. I stand to be corrected. Governor Fayemi only laid asphalt on all the roads that I did. The people of Ekiti State till today have not got a replacement for me. They were not part of the events that took me out of office. Historically, they still remain with Ayo Fayose in their hearts. Let me go to another sector: in education, when I left government, Ekiti was number 35 out of 36 states in the country when I took over from Governor Adebayo, I brought education with credit in five subjects in the external examination
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 09:45:23 +0000
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