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Tag: Ayo Fayose

  • ‘Fayose lacks credibility on LG poll’

    ‘Fayose lacks credibility on LG poll’

    The Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation has faulted the allegation by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ayo Fayose, against its candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, over the conduct of local government election in Ekiti State.

    Fayose had alleged that the Fayemi administration refused to conduct local government election in the state. But the Fayemi Campaign Organisation in a statement by its spokesman, Dimeji Daniels said “it was Fayose’s party, PDP, which sought and was granted an injunction against the election slated for 4 February, 2011.”

    According to it, “It would have amounted to disobedience of a court order like the PDP did during the Segun Oni administration if the Fayemi administration had gone ahead to conduct the LG poll.”

    According to it, the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) and incumbent governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said that local government election will be conducted in the state before the end of this year after the case in court must have been decided.

    “The kind of Local Government election that the APC Government will conduct will bring more development to our people at the grassroots, unlike the tragic Local Government elections conducted by the short-lived administration of Ayo Fayose.

    “Ekiti people remember the tragic LG elections that Fayose conducted in 2004, as well as a subsequent vacant councillorship election in which Tunde Omojola was killed in Ifaki-Ekiti on 28 May, 2005 during a local government bye-election.

    “Ekiti people remember how Fayose as a sitting governor led thugs to Ilawe during a local government election to threaten and harass the people. Two police officers, Taiwo Balogun and Titilope Aratile, testified against Fayose at the election tribunal. They narrated how he stormed the council area with a retinue of mobile policemen and some soldiers with fake name-tags to hijack ballot boxes at the various voting centers.”

    The Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, stressed that Governor Fayemi will never conduct a local council poll in which ballot boxes will be snatched, neither will he lead thugs to sing ‘olomo kilo f’omo re, oni a ro’ (Today will be bloody, everyone should take caution).

    “Fayose has no credibility to pontificate about local government elections because he has consistently preferred mayhem and brigandage to free and fair election.” It said.

     

  • PDP unleashes terror on APC members in Egbe-Ekiti

    PDP unleashes terror on APC members in Egbe-Ekiti

    Suspected political thugs on Monday during a campaign rally organised by the Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate for the June 21 election, Ayo Fayose, allegedly unleashed terror on members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Egbe-Ekiti, Gbonyin Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

    The people scampered for safety. Streets were deserted and markets hurriedly closed, as sound of gunshots rent the air. A house belonging to a chieftain of the APC, Chief Dapo Awojolu, was the worst hit .

    According to eyewitnesses, expended bullet catridges were seen on the ground at the scene of the attack. The thugs, who reportedly came in a truck, were armed with guns, cutlasses and axes.

    An occupant of the attacked house, Adeyeye Gbenga, whose car parked in the compound was damaged, narrated his ordeal: “When they got here, they parked and started shouting the name of Chief Awojolu. They accused him of not allowing PDP to thrive in this town. They threatened to destroy him. They brought out guns and started shooting at the house. You can see the damaged louvres and the bullet holes in the wall. My car, which I parked in the compound, was shot at several times. We just thanked God that no one was hurt as we all took cover.”

    Another occupant of the house and a younger sister of Chief Awojolu, Mrs. Grace Ogundana, said: “It was God who saved those of us in the house at the time. We had to lie face down as gunshots flew about. We had to escape through the back door and ran into the bush where we spent the night in a farmstead out of fear and returned to the house the following morning. One of the thugs, who was dressed in red, led the attack. The same thing happened last Thursday when Labour Party people came for their own rally. They demolished a section of our fence. Please, help us appeal to the police to protect us from PDP and Labour Party.”

    A resident of the town, Segun Fadunmiye, said though he was not at the scene of the attack, he was hearing the gunshots from where he was.

    The spokesperson of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Dimeji Daniels, said the attack was a re-enactment of the orgy of violence in the state between 2003 and 2006.

    Said he: “The PDP should know that guns will not win this election. Only records of excellent performance will and Dr. Kayode Fayemi has that in abundance. Having seen his giant strides, our people have made up their minds on re-electing him. That is a red card to the PDP and its co-traveller, Labour Party. They can amuse themselves for as long as they want. The truth is that Ekiti people have red-carded them!”

    Awojolu said the attack was unprovoked. He added that he has reported the incident to the police.

    He said:“Ayo Fayose’s strategy is an exception to the rule. His only strategy is to intimidate the people. When he got to the town on Monday, few people welcomed him. I think that annoyed him.”

    He also accused Labour Party members of attacking the same house on 17 April, 2014 during their campaign rally in the community.

    “I never knew Opeyemi Bamidele to be violent. When he was with us, I thought he was a gentleman. He arrogated too much importance to himself. My advice is that he retraces his steps by leaving the political cocoon that he is now,” Awojolu said.

     

  • I initiated social security scheme for the elderly, says Fayose

    I initiated social security scheme for the elderly, says Fayose

    •APC: he’s lying to win cheap favour

    The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has said he started the social security scheme for the elderly people in the state during his tenure as governor.

    Fayose spoke at the weekend while on campaign tour of wards in Ayegbaju and Oye Ekiti.

    “It is not true that Fayemi started the monthly payment for the elderly in the state,” he said.

    On the train with Fayose were Senator Ayo Arise, Dr Jimi Oke, Hon Duro Faseyi, Senator Clement Awoyelu and others.

    He urged the electorate to vote for him in the June 21 election to enable him continue the progrmme, adding: “I will improve upon the existing programme as being implemented by Fayemi and bring life to more people in the state”.

    But, the spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti, Mr. Segun Dipe, said Fayose did not initiate the scheme.

    He said: “No one in this state knew what our elders now know as ‘Owo Arugbo (Money for the elderly or social security scheme) programme until Fayemi came with it over three years ago.”

    Fayose said N2,000 was given to elderly individuals as allowance every month from 2003-2006 apart from special package for the widows.

    He said: “Though, I don’t want to engage in any controversy with anybody over any issue, the records are there for anybody to see. I started the social security scheme for the elderly in this state at the various local governments.

    “Elderly people were then given the sum of N2,000 on monthly basis and the widows were equally taken care of, aside the fact that l pay salary to workers, including teachers, on 20th of every month. Given another opportunity, I will improve on this.”

    Fayose said God has ordained him to return to power on October 15. The former governor urged his supporters to get their voter cards and embark on a house-to-house campaign.

    Dipe said Fayose lied on “the spirit of both the living and the dead by claiming to have given the elderly people social security benefits”, noting that all the programmes of the former governor were “half hearted and poorly implemented”.

    He said: “Fayose has again resorted to lying to win cheap favour. Let us ask him (Fayose) where exactly he implemented his social security scheme and for what category or class of people.”

    The monarch of Oye-Ekiti, Oba Oluwole Ademolaju, urged Fayose to ensure peaceful and violence-free election.

    Ademolaju said: “It is the view of we traditional rulers in this state that we want election devoid of acrimony. Fayose has said he does not want violence. To you his followers, please do according to his wish; don’t create unnecessary tension.”

     

     

  • Four arraigned for ‘attack’ on Fayose’s office

    Four arraigned for ‘attack’ on Fayose’s office

    •Police summon stakeholders meeting

    Four persons were arraigned yesterday at a Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, for alleged involvement in the attack on the campaign office of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) candidate in the June 21 election, former Governor Ayo Fayose.

    Richard Apolola, Ayodele Owoju, Adeniyi Adedipe and Ayodeji Adesokan pleaded “not guilty” to the four-count charge, which included attempted murder of Olumide Gabriel and shooting at the office.

    Police Prosecutor Sunday Ojobu applied for adjournment and pleaded that the accused be remanded in prison custody.

    Counsel to the accused Luke Ogundele urged the court to grant his clients bail, noting that the charges against them were bailable.

    The Magistrate, Idowu Ayenimo, granted the suspects N250,000 bail and two sureties each.

    The sureties must be public servants, who must show evidence of residence within the magisterial area.

    The case was adjourned till May.

    Earlier, while parading the suspects at the Police Headquartres, Police Commissioner Felix Uyanna restated the command’s determination to check political violence.

    He said about 13 incidentes of violent attacks had been recorded since campaigns began on March 23, adding that eight of the cases had been charged to court.

    Uyanna said: “Political stakeholders and politically exposed persons are hereby reminded of the need to play by the rules as contained in the Electoral Act. The public are urged to go about their lawful businesses and we assure them of adequate security.”

    Also yesterday, a political stakeholders meeting was held at the police headquarters. It was attended by the CP and representatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and parties.

    Pledging to ensure a violence-free election, Uyanna said criminals would be dealt with.

     

  • Forget about winning, APC youths tell Fayose

    Forget about winning, APC youths tell Fayose

    The National Youth Vanguard of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has told the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) flag bearer in the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State, former Governor Ayo Fayose, to forget about winning the poll.

    The youths and the Director-General of Governor Kayode Fayemi’s campaign organisation, Mr. Daramola Abimbola, were at Fayose’s stronghold in Ado-Ekiti – Falegan Abekoko, which consists of three communities, on Sunday, to campaign for Fayemi.

    Coordinator of the Youth Vanguard in Ekiti State Dare Ajayi said by coming out en masse, residents were telling Fayose to forget about winning the election.

    Southwest Coordinator of the Youth Vanguard Majeed Yahaya said: “Fayose should hands of, as the APC is ready to win Ekiti with an unprecedented margin in the history of elections in Nigeria. The APC National Youth Vanguard will put in place strategies to prevent rigging in the election.”

     

  • Fayose’s, Biodun Olujimi’s feud enters second phase?

    Fayose’s, Biodun Olujimi’s feud enters second phase?

    If you believe that former Ekiti State governor and PDP gubernatorial candidate in the forthcoming governorship election in the state, Ayo Fayose, has made peace with his erstwhile deputy, Abiodun Olujimi, you’ll believe anything. The duo are allegedly bracing up for another round of their head-long collision, putting paid to talks that the seeming silence between the duo has finally ended their protracted ill-feelings towards each other.

    Since Fayose got the PDP ticket, many thought they will bury the hatchet and start working together again. But as things stand, there is no end in sight to the battle between them.

    It will be recalled that while the reign of Ayodele Fayose as governor of Ekiti State lasted, Biodun Olujimi was one of the powerful pillars that upheld the government. She lived the life of a powerful politician, not tolerating any opposition when matters involved Fayose. She was blindly loyal to her boss. But the romance started experiencing fits of hiccups when Fayose was dislodged from the Government House in 2007.

    With Fayose out of government, some of his aides had to also find where the pasture is greener, or at least where it would remain green. The crack between the former allies began to appear when former Governor Segun Oni appointed Biodun as Commissioner for Works.

  • ‘My supporter’s didn’t attack Fayemi’s convoy’

    ‘My supporter’s didn’t attack Fayemi’s convoy’

    Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) governorship candidate Mr. Ayo Fayose has denied claims that his supporters attacked Governor Kayode Fayemi’s convoy in Ado-Ekiti on Monday.

    In a statement, Fayemi’s media aide, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, said the governor’s convoy was attacked around 6pm by hoodlums who came out of Fayose’s campaign office.

    He said the thugs threw stones and bottles at Fayemi’s campaign train, injuring some All Progressives Congress (APC) members and smashing the windshields of their vehicles.

    Denying the claims, Fayose alleged that suspected APC members attacked his campaign office in Adebayo.

    In a statement, PDP Publicity Secretary Pastor Kola Oluwawole alleged that suspected APC members shot at and threw stones into Fayose’s campaign office without being provoked when the governor’s convoy drove past.

    Oluwawole said about 10 suspected hoodlums returned to Fayose’s campaign office and shattered windows and vehicles on the premises with bullets.

    He said the police were investigating the incident.

     

  • Fayose: Backing the wrong horse

    Fayose: Backing the wrong horse

    A first encountered Ayo Fayose quite a few years ago through a mutual restaurateur friend in South London.  I think the man was known as Oluwayose back then, and I think he worked mostly as a cab driver around town.  But even then, there was a certain energy, a certain swagger about the chap.  He was ambitious and talked big.  Sort of reminded me of 50 Cents: Get rich or die trying.  The next I heard of Fayose, he has turned up as Governor of Ekiti State – home of PhD holders.

    But things quickly went south for Fayose in Ekiti.  He and the PhDs didn’t quite see eye to eye.  He was also accused of being rude and uncouth, a no-no in a place like Ekiti.  There quickly followed ugly rumours about mindless corruption and the existence of a killer squad.

    Things began falling apart in 2005 when Obasanjo arrived in Afao, Ekiti to commission a poultry farm.  Obasanjo’s moustache twitched indelicately; the former President, a successful farmer, complained that he couldn’t smell the usual fragrance peculiar to poultry farms the world over.  Turned out Fayose was pulling a fast one.  Just the day before, Fayose had hurriedly put up a few chicken cages.  Then he placed some chikens he had hired from a farm in Ibadan in those cages.  Obasanjo, not known for being overly subtle, promptly yelled out that Fayose should check himself and fear God.  He also advised Fayose to leave the poultry business entirely to private firms and individuals.

    Shortly after that, Fayose’s friend, one Gbenja James, and a former aide, Goke Olatunji were arrested.  They were nabbed for their involvement in what was known as the Ekiti State Integrated Poultry Scheme for which over N1.4 billion had been expended.

    That was just one case of blatant corruption, but that poultry scam was nothing compared to the fraud Fayose allegedly pulled off in Ekiti with local government funds.  Despite Obasanjo’s initial reticence, Fayose and his Deputy were impeached and got kicked out of office in 2006.  EFCC corruption charges are still hanging over Fayose like the Sword of Damocles.

    It is incredible therefore that it is this same Fayose that has now been resurrected, dusted off and chosen by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be their candidate in the upcoming Ekiti gubernatorial poll slated for June.  In a party primary election conducted on Saturday March 22, by none other than Peter Odili, Fayose emerged overwhelming winner.  It was a PDP-style landslide.  Of the available 477 votes, Fayose got a whopping 462.  The other three contestants managed to scrape-up only 11 votes between them.  One contestant, Mrs Ogundipe got just one vote.

    The choice of Fayose is a head-scratcher for me.  That he was even allowed to participate in any credible political party’s primary was a surprise.  I fear the PDP could be up to something again.  I would have thought that a party in central government that doesn’t control any state in the South-west would see the coming governorship election in Ekiti as one in which to put its best foot forward.  I thought the PDP would be a little more serious about its ambitions in Ekiti, especially as 2015 looms.  What am I missing?

    Throughout his time as governor, Fayose exhibited a character and behavioural trait that were unfit and unacceptable for high office.  Alas today, a few people in Ekiti look back on Fayose’s three years as productive ones.  They weren’t.

    Rather unfortunately, it has become common practice in Nigeria for all major political parties to cheat during elections.  The biggest rigger always wins unless the courts step in to save democracy’s blushes.  The last time around, it took an almighty battle before the usurper governor, Segun Oni was thrown out.  Things got so tough, the previous Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ayoka Adebayo evaporated from her duty post and went on the lam.  She claimed that some people wanted her to do things against her will.  In the end, Iwu and the PDP had their way.

    Across the track, Iyiola Omisore is getting ready to become the next governor of Osun also on behalf of the PDP.  Omisore has done it before: He won an election as a Senator of the Federal Republic whilst on prison remand on a murder charge.  Perhaps there’s a method to what ordinarily looks like the PDP madness.  After all, this is realpolitik; it is certainly not about some bucket-load of PhDs in one thing or the other.

     

    • Egbejumi-David writes from Lagos

     

  • Remove Fayose now, aggrieved PDP members urge Jonathan

    Remove Fayose now, aggrieved PDP members urge Jonathan

    Aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in Ekiti State have given President Goodluck Jonathan five days to nullify the primary that produced former Governor Ayo Fayose as the party’s flag bearer in the June 21 governorship election and order a fresh one.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Ado-Ekiti after a meeting, the aggrieved members, led by Mrs. Feyisayo Fajuyi, said: “The PDP’s constitution was fundamentally breached as congresses did not hold in whole seven of the 16 councils in the state. Massive rigging occurred in many of the councils where the congresses were said to have held.

    “We urge the President to immediately reverse the sham that produced Fayose as our party’s flag bearer. What we are saying should be clear to every sincere Nigerian. PDP never held a primary in Ekiti and so, there is no candidate for the party yet.”

    They blamed the PDP leadership for “open bias”, saying former Rivers State Governor Peter Odili presided over “a fraudulent primary that lacks legitimacy”.

    The aggrieved members urged the president to nullify the primary, adding: “Time is ticking fast against the party as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed a timetable for the election.”

    Others at the press briefing were Chief Abel Fayori (Irepodun/Ifelodun); Chief C. Ajayi (Ise/Orun); Mrs. Foluke Adetunji (Ekiti West); Biodun Ajibadeola (Ikole-Ekiti); Comrade Oluwalana Ayobami (Youth President) and Comrade Akinola Adams (Ijero-Ekiti).

    They said: “The media is definitely aware of the events that led to the emergence of a supposed flag bearer of our party. The details were made available to Nigerians through the media by the authorities and leaders concerned.

    “As we have said and will continue to say, you cannot build something on nothing. If a university student undergoing a six-year course is discovered to have used a forged certificate in the fifth year, he would be removed from the system immediately. The amount of years he has spent will amount to nothing. President Jonathan must order a fresh primary, as the one said to have been conducted was fraught with fraud on a large scale.

    “With the party’s national hierarchy pretending that all is well, we took it upon ourselves to encourage our large followership to wait for Mr. President’s return, upon which we believe he will intervene with other respected party leaders.

    “Today makes it the 16th day of our waiting for a redress by such interventions. While waiting, some leaders have been persuaded to abandon the truth and settle in criminal compromise. We jointly, as a group, and individually dissociate ourselves from being a part of moving on at the looming peril of failure at the coming poll.

    “The purported primary itself was a daylight rape on democracy and it was widely acclaimed as unacceptable by majority of the party’s stakeholders.”

    Expressing readiness to leave the PDP and “opt for a better and more assuring option”, should efforts fail to have a fresh primary conducted, they said: “The likelihood of loss is too great and glaring in the coming election in Ekiti. Unless the president does the needful now, we run the risk of being branded a party of unrepentant criminals.

    “We await Mr. President’s intervention to prove that the PDP’s surname is not fraud and neither is its middle name corruption. True leaders are never passive or negatively active. We await Mr. President’s action and positively too.”

     

  • Governor’s convoy attacked by thugs

    Governor’s convoy attacked by thugs

    •LP, APC disagree

    The convoy of Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi was attacked yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, by suspected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs.

    The attack occurred around 6pm when the governor and his supporters were returning to Ado-Ekiti from a campaign rally in Ekiti-East Local Government Area.

    It was learnt that over 100 thugs emerged from former Governor Ayo Fayose’s Campaign Office, throwing stones and bottles at the governor’s convoy.

    The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Olayinka Oyebode, in a statement, said the governor restrained his security aides and All Progressives Congress (APC) members from retaliating.

    Some APC members were injured and the windshields of their vehicles smashed.

    The incident occurred barely a week after the April 1 attack on some APC supporters by suspected PDP thugs at Adebayo in the state capital.

    Also yesterday, the Labour Party (LP) alleged that suspected APC members attacked its campaign train in Isan, Iye and Ilawe at the weekend.

    It said live ammunition, machetes, axes and stones were used by the hoodlums on its members, who were “campaigning peacefully” for the party’s flag bearer, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele.

    In a statement, LP said: “Our campaign bus was shattered and battered In Isan-Ekiti, same at Ilawe-Ekiti. At Iye-Ekiti, one of our youth leaders was injured with a machete and hospitalised.

    “We draw the attention of the Federal Government, the Inspector-General of Police, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies, as well as the good and peace-loving people of Ekiti, to call Dr. Kayode Fayemi and his party to order before they start another orgy of violence and bloodletting.”

    Spokesman of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation Dimeji Daniels refuted the allegations, saying: “We invite the police to investigate these lies to know who is preparing for the coming election as if it is a war. Trying to curry undue favour from the electorate, who have resolved to vote for Fayemi in the June 21 election, will not serve any of our opposition underdogs a useful purpose.

    “We have said the campaign should be based on issues. Fayemi has kept to this. Our organisation has also kept to this. We do not have any reason to go off that path of decency and principle because we have more than enough issues to deal with and campaign about.

    “Ekiti is one beautiful bride today because of the many packages of development and better living instituted by Fayemi. These are what we have based our campaigns on and not thuggery which, unfortunately, the LP and the PDP have largely relied upon as their campaign strategy.”