The Governor-elect of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, in this interview
\nwith NIYI ODEBODE and ADELANI ADEPEGBA, comments on the controversy over
\nhis victory and politics in the South-West<\/p>\n
Many people were shocked by the result of the Ekiti governorship election.<\/strong><\/em> No, we know the facts on ground. We live by realities, not propaganda. How would you respond to Governor Fashola\u2019s comment that Governor Fayemi<\/em><\/strong> I really don\u2019t want to join issues with them, particularly, Governor Despite the fact that Fayemi conceded defeat, you described it as<\/strong><\/em> Governor Fayemi does not have a choice than to concede. It is only But some people have argued that your victory was achieved through<\/strong><\/em> Unfortunately, they (APC members) are the ones sharing money. I complained Did you have to do that?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Yes. Why was Governor Fayemi buying buses and inscribing Iyaloja, Igbo There is a belief that federal might played a role in your victory.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know what is called federal might. In those days, they used to Is it true that Ekiti voters did not sack Governor Fayemi for<\/strong><\/em> Governor Fayemi did not perform, that is the truth. I stand to be How do you react to the belief that President Jonathan wants to ride on<\/strong><\/em> There is nothing like desperation. What you don\u2019t have, you have to work After you won the election, the EFCC said you still have a case to answer.<\/strong><\/em> EFCC did not say that. There is an ongoing case with the EFCC. It is an You mean you want to contest for the Presidency?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Well, maybe one day, after Jonathan. I will give Jonathan unalloyed What gives you the assurance that PDP\u2019s victory in Ekiti will be<\/strong><\/em> The PDP will win everywhere. What do you want me to say? You want me to What is the basis of your conviction?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I just said it to you. In the papers, they put all the hype, they put There are fears that you may dismantle Fayemi\u2019s programmes and policies\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I will rather consolidate on his achievements. He has done his bit, he has The APC has said it will contest your electoral victory in court. Are you<\/strong><\/em> Good luck to them. I will meet them there. Are they the owners of the What specific programmes do you have for Ekiti people?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I have done it before. I did something in the past that made them Some people have argued that your own kind of development programme is Are we saying that people should remain in hunger perpetually because we An hungry man is an angry man. For four years people did not feel the You once said that your wife predicted your return to government house. Is<\/strong><\/em> It is a gift. A lot of people have the gift of God. She is a woman after The Punch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive","category-interviews"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nWere you also shocked?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\nThere are no Nigerian politicians, serious politicians, irrespective of
\ntheir political parties, that do not know that Fayose is on the ground and
\nthat Fayose\u2019s name is a household name in Ekiti. Despite the fact that I
\nhave left office for eight years, I remain with the people. I have fought
\nseveral elections, for and in support of even the All Progressives
\nCongress. I supported Kayode Fayemi in the rerun. I was the beautiful
\nbride then. It is their way when the going is good with them; when you are
\nfighting on their side, you are the best in the world. Then, you will not
\nbe a criminal; then you will not be 419er; then you have integrity, then
\nyou will be celebrated. When you are against them; when you humble them,
\nthey call you all sorts of names. They look for theories that do not go
\nwith reality.<\/p>\n
\naccepted defeat because he did not want bloodshed in Ekiti?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nFashola because I like him so much. I like his person and I have a lot of
\nrespect for him. But Governor Fashola is talking from two sides of his
\nmouth. They say Fayose is not educated, according to them, but he is
\neducated. He is learned but Fashola is not a product of internal
\ndemocracy. Governor Fashola is a product of imposition, of god-fatherism.
\nI remember when Fashola and Asiwaju Tinubu had issues, there were
\ntrumped-up charges against him through the House of Assembly. I remember
\nvividly that he had to go to the court to clip their wings, otherwise they
\nwould have messed him up. And even at that, they still kept a tab on him.
\nHow would you be a governor, not elected in a transparent primary, but
\nselected by one leader and you would still be surprised if an election was
\nwon through due process? Fashola knows that when he accused Asiwaju of not
\nallowing due process or internal process in the party, Bola Tinubu told
\nhim, \u2018Have you forgotten that if I followed due process, you would not be
\ngovernor?\u2019 So he cannot appreciate due process politically. When they were
\nnominating commissioners, he didn\u2019t have one commissioner. He cannot
\nequally say this is my deputy. You know I chose my deputy myself, against
\nall the odds. They gave him a deputy governor, probably, the only person I
\nthink he owns now is his wife. I am sure Fashola has forgotten that he is
\na lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and that the constitution of
\nNigeria says a man is adjudged innocent until otherwise proved by a court
\nof competent jurisdiction. I don\u2019t want to say anything negative about
\nhim. I would have asked a special adviser or somebody working under me to
\nreply him, but because he is a governor, I have to reply him myself. Let
\nme remind him very quickly, I was governor before him. He was an ordinary
\nchief of staff at that time. I am his senior politically. If at all he
\nknows anything about politics, I am his senior. We know the intrigues more
\nthan him. It is true he is sitting on a prime state like Lagos under the
\nwatch of his godfather, but he should not run his mouth. It is unfortunate
\nthat a man at his level is talking like that. I am an institution like his
\ngodfather in Ekiti. When I started, I didn\u2019t have a godfather. I didn\u2019t
\nhave anybody like the Saraki of Ilorin who put Bukola Saraki there. They
\nshould learn to allow democracy to run. I want to tell them, if care is
\nnot taken, they would lose Lagos. The tide, the movement is against them.
\nOne thing with the APC is that they would lure you to defect, the moment
\nyou defect, they would go and put you on the reserve bench. That is why
\nthey don\u2019t have support continuously. When you work for them, as soon as
\nyou are used, they dump you. You can imagine a governor who is supposed to
\npay salaries and he refused to pay for two, three months, and election is
\ncoming, he is now rushing, borrowing money. The civil servants are now
\ntelling him, thank God for Ekiti election, if not for Ekiti election, this
\nman would not pay us. Who is fooling who? Look at the heavy tax burden in
\nLagos, in all their states. The Tsunami is going to consume them and I am
\ntelling you the truth, it is not personal. I am not boasting, I am an
\ninstitution in Ekiti. What is the business of Fashola in Ekiti? The
\nproblem is that they have all put their resources in Ekiti election and
\nthey lost. The bookmakers failed.<\/p>\n
\npolitical gimmick. Why?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\nhonourable for him and I will continue to respect him even when it\u2019s
\nobvious he had no choice but to concede, that is the truth. In my village,
\npeople say if everybody doesn\u2019t know the truth, you that is affected by an
\nincident knows the truth; a sick man knows he is having pain in his tummy.
\nGovernor Fayemi knows the situation is bad.<\/p>\n
\ninducement of voters with rice and money?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\nabout them sharing money, check the records. In 2011, they brought money
\nto every polling booth. Those people that were arrested during elections
\nwere caught with money. Which party did they belong to? The issue here is
\nthat they all know it. They are the ones that engaged in money politics.
\nThey buy all the buy-ables. I have been out of office for eight years,
\nwhere will I get that kind of money to buy votes? The issue remains that
\nsomebody that eats your food must be convinced before he can vote for you.
\nCan a meal of rice induce somebody to vote for you? Fayemi gave cooked
\nrice, I gave uncooked rice. This is politics and you need everything to
\nentice voters and rice was shared by me, almost two weeks before election.<\/p>\n
\ncommunity on them close to the election period? Why was Governor Fayemi\u2019s
\nwife donating garri to the farmsteads? Why was he giving money to aged
\ncitizens and giving gifts including recharge cards to the people? Why did
\nhis wife do that? These are petty antics of politicians to draw voters and
\nthat does not change anything. A container of rice would not change the
\nmind of anybody because the rice cannot last you till the election day.
\nWhen you attend ward meetings, you give your people money because some of
\nthem may have come to meet you from various villages. You see, when you
\nfail, you must accept and Fayemi lives in Ekiti and we are there together.
\nAre they now holier than the Pope? Most of the hotels in Ekiti were booked
\nby Governor Fayemi six months before the election and they gave rooms to
\nall the policemen that came for the election. We knew what transpired.
\nFayemi has been honourable. Their fear is not about Ekiti anymore. They
\nare saying all these because of Osun election. When something is consuming
\nyou, you will hold on to anything and all things. If you look at them very
\nwell, they were in shock for the first three days after the Ekiti
\nelection, they had to summon a NEC meeting to take a decision. They had to
\nlook for words, which they coined to describe what happened because they
\nwere caught by the reality of the international accreditation of that
\nelection which was adjudged free and fair. The court is the highway for
\nthem, but they will meet us there. Are they the owners of the court? They
\nare not. They always think they know it all.<\/p>\n
\nsnatch ballot boxes, you can\u2019t do that again. There used to be multiple
\nthumb printing, but the ballot papers are now customised to the polling
\nbooth and the ward. Even if you want to help somebody rig the election, it
\nis not easy anymore. They should stop lying. Some of them said they
\nmilitarised Ekiti and brought so many security personnel. The question is
\nthat the law is not made for the godly, but for the ungodly. The military
\npersonnel were not for those that wanted to vote peacefully, they were for
\nthose that wanted to create problems. Some of them came to Ekiti with
\nvoter\u2019s cards that did not belong to them, stayed in various hotels and
\nhad charms on them, they were caught. Who were the people that were
\narrested in Anambra? Were they not APC members? The same APC members and
\nit is their method to always want to change the story. Thank God, Fayemi
\nwas honourable enough. I remember Governor Adebayo did the same thing. Na
\ntoday them dey lie? It is not today.<\/p>\n
\nnon-performance?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\ncorrected, but he did not perform. Let me ask him one question: Governor
\nFayemi should tell Ekiti and the public one road project initiated and
\ncompleted by his administration-from bush clearing, earth removal, sand
\nfilling, compacting, surface dressing, drainage works, culvert, asphalt
\noverlay, none. I stand to be corrected. Governor Fayemi only laid asphalt
\non all the roads that I did. The people of Ekiti State till today have not
\ngot a replacement for me. They were not part of the events that took me
\nout of office. Historically, they still remain with Ayo Fayose in their
\nhearts. Let me go to another sector: in education, when I left government,
\nEkiti was number 35 out of 36 states in the country when I took over from
\nGovernor Adebayo, I brought education with credit in five subjects in the
\nexternal examination as a yardstick, I brought Ekiti in 2004 to 18th
\nposition. In 2005, I brought it to 13th, in 2006, it came to the 8th
\nposition. Today, we are back in number 34 under Governor Fayemi. So, tell
\nme the performance, the hype in the media, is that performance? I stand to
\nbe corrected again, Governor Fayemi should point at one project started by
\nhis administration and completed; none. The governor\u2019s lodge that he is
\nbuilding in Ayaba hill, is Ekiti the Federal Government that he is
\nbuilding Aso Rock? Of what economic value are those projects to the
\naverage man on the street? The pavilion was commissioned uncompleted. I
\ndon\u2019t like to take on Governor Fayemi, but we have to treat these issues.
\nThese projects, of what economic benefits are they and at what cost?
\nAgain, let me say this, when I was governor, I did not borrow a dime to
\nrun my administration and I still left N10.4bn in the coffers of the state
\ngovernment at my departure. It is not about your professorship or
\ndoctorate degrees, or your being a SAN. They love me. It is not about
\neducation. It is about native intelligence and your ability to humble
\nyourself and live with the people. Most of the people that are local
\npoliticians, I know their names, I know their houses, I know their farms.
\nI know what they need. I helped them. I have their phone numbers. I
\nannounced my phone numbers on the radio, they call me, I picked calls, how
\nmany of the opposition politicians can put their numbers in the public
\ndomain for people to call them? How many of them can spend two days in
\ntheir local government areas? I have gone to look for ward leaders
\nsometimes during party primaries, they would be in their farms and I would
\nmeet them in their farms and still help some of them to make heaps.
\nSometimes, it is not about money. There is no ward in Ekiti that I don\u2019t
\nknow people by names, at least 10 people per ward. If I don\u2019t know your
\nname, I have an idea of who you are. You know most politicians give their
\nT-shirts free to supporters, I sold mine. My T-shirt is N300 because I am
\nlike the football star. My T-shirt is not free. When others give
\nsupporters their T-shirt, they leave it and buy my own. If you don\u2019t buy
\nmy T-shirt, you would look like a leper. My hand band which has the
\ninscription of my name is N100, my baseball cap is N200. I am as golden as
\nthat. There is a membership of the PDP that is general, but the membership
\nof Ayo Fayose group costs N500. I have at least over 90,000 registered
\nmembers; they beg to register. With all due respect to my supporters, I
\nlove them. I go to the remotest part of Ekiti, wherever you are. If you
\nare having a naming ceremony, you will find me there. It doesn\u2019t matter
\nhow poor you are. If I cannot give you a cow, I give you a ram. If you are
\ndrinking Agbo jedi (herbal concoction), I would join you. Women selling
\nboli (roasted plantain) know me and I know them and I phone them from time
\nto time. This is not a question of money. How many of our governors can go
\nto roadside eateries and eat there? They said I am a jankara governor and
\nI have used this to beat them. Every Sunday, I go to eat \u2018iyan kolobe\u2019
\n(pounded yam without soup) and I\u2019d be there for one hour, but during the
\nelection period, my opponents started doing the same thing. They started
\nbuying maggi that costs N1000 for N5000, so the people knew that they
\nwanted their votes.<\/p>\n
\nyour victory to penetrate the South-West in a desperate attempt to win the<\/strong><\/em>
\n2015 election?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\nto have it. My election is now a reference point in Nigeria that big names
\ndon\u2019t win election. Your coat and babaringa don\u2019t win elections. Go and
\ncultivate the people. They are in shock because just for one day, we
\nchanged the tide. The tides are changing, the only thing that is constant
\nis change and like I told you, in another two, three elections, it would
\nbe difficult to rig. Before, there was this belief that anybody could go
\nto government and take money, but you can\u2019t do it again because things are
\nchanging. These leaders should change with realities. Even in the PDP, in
\nthe South-West, no leader will disparage the party. We would suspend you.
\nIt doesn\u2019t matter whether you are a former president or former governor,
\nif you disparage the party again, we will take you out. I am telling you
\nexpressly. By no small means, posterity has put me in this position, if
\nanybody wants to join the APC, let him go there. If former President
\nOlusegun Obasanjo wants to join the APC, let him go to APC. Segun Oni has
\ngone, we don\u2019t beg for membership. We want loyal members of our party.
\nObasanjo should stop making uncomplimentary statements about the party, if
\nhe continues, we will suspend him; nobody is bigger than this party. When
\nI fought the PDP, I wrote a letter of resignation and I left. You cannot
\nbe in a glass house and throw stones; so whosoever, no matter how big you
\nare, you must be careful. You see, they said Segun Oni left, did he win
\nhis polling booth? Segun Oni was imposed, his allegiance was to the people
\nthat imposed him. We are not bothered about that, but some people have
\nnames, they have no ground supporters. Those who hired people like Segun
\nOni and gave him deputy chairman, South-West, they have hired what Yoruba
\ncall korofo, empty carton.<\/p>\n
\nWhat\u2019s your reaction?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\nongoing case since 2007 and so there is no issue. I am not the only one
\ngoing through it and I remain an innocent man until otherwise proven. So
\nwith all the EFCC case and the blackmail, I still won an election. They
\nshould borrow a leaf from there; there is something fundamental about me.
\nThey would all be living in this country when I would be at the top. They
\nwill be criticising me as I go to the top; that is their way. I am still
\ngoing higher.<\/p>\n
\nloyalty and support. After Jonathan, if anybody wants to use me for
\nanything higher, I will be glad to do it; it\u2019s service.<\/p>\n
\nreplicated in Osun?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\ntell you the PDP would not win? We will win everywhere, it\u2019s normal
\nbecause we have bruised their ego. We have taken the meat away from them.
\nWe have shown the whole world practical demonstration, if you are not on
\nthe ground, you can\u2019t win this election. The APC will time out after Osun
\nelection.<\/p>\n
\nGovernor Fayemi\u2019s photo, they showed rallies. I\u2019m a realist. I am on the
\nground. I am in the PDP. But I have a lot of respect for Aregbesola,
\nanybody who is a governor should be respected because it\u2019s a respectable
\noffice, but that does not take away the fact that I am a PDP man and I
\nwill work in the overall interest of the party.<\/p>\n
\ntried his best; nobody can finish governance, so why would I dismantle his
\nprogrammes? Even if there are mistakes by his administration, I will draw
\nhis attention to them, we will talk about them. I want former governors to
\nbe like the military. They still respect one another. Like I told you,
\nthere is no reason to fight anybody. No fight, what I am interested in is
\nto do my own bit. Four years is a short time. I just want to do my own bit
\nand go. Unborn children of Ekiti will still be governors after me, so why
\nwould I fight Fayemi? I will equally draw Governor Fayemi to myself, draw
\nAdebayo, draw Oni. I have defeated the three of them put together, but
\nthat doesn\u2019t matter. That is politics.<\/p>\n
\nworried?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\ncourt? They always think they can buy people.<\/p>\n
\nappreciate me and brought me back. I will do more than that. If I
\nenumerate my agenda, we would be here forever. But in infrastructure, my
\npriority is to tar all the untarred roads in the state capital within 18
\nmonths. I am going to construct a fly-over in two strategic places in
\nAdo-Ekiti to ease traffic. There are lots of things I will do to enhance
\nthe welfare of my people. If I were Governor Fayemi, I would not have
\nbuilt that governor\u2019s house. I will build roads and other infrastructure
\nthat can impact the life of the common man. Things that can add value to
\nthe lives of the people are more important than things that would add
\nvalue to the governor.<\/p>\n
\nabout stomachstructure and not infrastructure, how do you react to this?<\/p>\n
\nare providing infrastructure?<\/p>\n
\ndirect impact of government, is that governance? The truth of the matter
\nis every contract in Ekiti was a payback time for some people. Well, the
\nconsequence of not doing stomachstructure is for them to go back home.<\/p>\n
\nshe a prophetess?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\nGod\u2019s heart, I keep saying that. People say I should not put her in public
\ndomain, I should not talk about her. The fact remains that the hand of God
\nis with her and remains upon her. When my wife said Fayose would come
\nback, Fayemi\u2019s wife kicked, she said what did he forget in Government
\nHouse? Now, they know and they know better.<\/p>\n