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Tag: Ayodele Fayose

  • Fayose sacks Ekiti council chairmen

    Fayose sacks Ekiti council chairmen

    Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has dissolved the caretaker committees of the 16 local government areas and the 19 recently inaugurated Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state.

    The governor also dissolved all state controlled agencies, commissions, boards and parastatals.

    The LCDAs were created by the immediate past administration of Dr. Kayode Fayemi in July 2014.

    Fayose, who disclosed this in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS) Idowu Adelusi, at the weekend, clarified all the council chairmen should immediately hand over to their Directors of Administration (DAs).

    The Caretaker chairmen had been in control of the 16 councils since the former governor  came on board on October 16, 2010 consequent upon a High Court injunction that the council elections proposed by the Fayemi-led administration on February 4, 2011 should be put on hold pending the determination of a suit against its conduct by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    PDP had alleged that some of the members of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC), which was to superintend the conduct of the election were card-carrying members of the then ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Fayose, in his inaugural speech last Thursday, disclosed the courts had been approached to challenge the creation of the new councils.

    The governor noted that the move to create the councils by Fayemi in the twilight of his administration was less than desirable.

    He consequently insisted they (the LCDAs) would not be financed with funds meant for the 16 constitutionally-recognised councils in the state as listed in the 1999 constitution.

  • New Ekiti governor Fayose sworn in

    New Ekiti governor Fayose sworn in

    Mr. Ayodele Fayose was on Thursday sworn in as the new governor of Ekiti State.

    He was sworn in at the Kayode Oluyemi Stadium in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

    He thus became the 11th governor of the state since its creation on October 1, 1996.

    The new governor was sworn in by the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Ayodele Daramola, before the enthusiastic crowd of Peoples Democratic Party’s chiefs and supporters that came from different parts of the country.

    The party’s National Chairman,  Adamu Muazu, led other top members including the governors of Akwa Ibom, Katsina, Cross River, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Abia, Kebbi, Delta and Ondo States to the inauguration ceremony.

    The immediate past governor of Anambra, Peter Obi, was also in attendance.

    In his inauguration speech, Fayose urged those present to observe a minute silence in honour of dead members of PDP and the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State.

    He said, “I’m blessed and it is evident that God is with me. History is being made and it will take a while to surpass.”

     

  • Fayose: Question mark on eligibility?

    Fayose: Question mark on eligibility?

    A group of professionals, the E-Eleven, led by Mr. Femi Ajiniran, is asking the court to determine the eligibility of the Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, to contest the June 21 election. EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the implications of the litigation for power transfer in the Fountain of Knowledge.

    Ekiti State Governor-elect Ayodele Fayose has one more hurdle to cross before assuming the reins on October 16. The court must make a pronouncement on his eligibility for the election held on June 21. If the case is decided in his favour, he will be sworn in by the Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Daramola. If the court rules that he was not eligible, there may be fresh constitutional crises in the state.

    When  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer was filling ‘Form INEC CF.001,’  little did he know that he would be asked to explain what he deposed to in the court of law after winning the poll. In the form, Fayose allegedly denied being indicted for fraud by a judicial commission or an administrative panel of inquiry.

    However, a group, the ‘e-Eleven’, thinks otherwise. Based on the document, the group believes that he was unfit to contest for the election. Therefore, it is praying an Ado Ekiti High Court to make a pronouncement on his eligibility for the contest. Other defendants in the suit are the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    According to e-Eleven, Fayose contested the poll in error. On may 23, the group had approached the court, alleging that Fayose had contravened the 1999 Constitution and the 2011 Electoral Act. The suit was brought pursuant to Order 3 Rule 5 and 6 of the High Court of Ekiti State (Civil Procedure Rules, 2011), precisely 29 days to the governorship election. Put succinctly, the group said Fayose violated Sections 177 and 182 (1) (d-e) of the constitution  (as amended) and Sections 31 and 87 of the Electoral Act.

    Section 182 (1) (d-e) provides that no person “shall be qualified for election to the office of governor of a state, if he is under a sentence of death imposed by any competent court of law or tribunal in Nigeria or a sentence of imprisonment for any offence involving dishonesty or fraud; or within a period of less than ten years before the date of election to the office of governor of a state he has been convicted and sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty or he has been found guilty of the Code of Conduct.”

    =Also, Section 31 (4-6) of the Electoral Act provided further conditions for disqualification of a governorship candidate. The section stated that a person might apply “to the commission for a copy of nomination form, affidavit and any other document submitted by a candidate at an election and the Commission shall, upon the payment of a prescribed fee, shall issue such person with a certified copy of the document within 14 days.

    “A person, who has reasonable grounds to believe that any information given by a candidate in the affidavit or any document submitted by the candidate is false may file a suit at the High Court of a State or Federal High Court against such person seeking a declaration that the information contained in the affidavit is false. If the Court determines that any of the information contained in the affidavit or any document submitted by the candidate is false, the Court shall issue an order disqualifying the candidate from contesting the election…”

    The group alleged that the governor-elect was indicted in a suit he filed against The News Magazine in 2004.

    In 2004, Fayose sued The News Magazine for alleged defamation of character at the High Court, Ekiti. The trial judge, Justice Ayodele Daramola, dismissed Fayose’s suit on the premise of the comprehensive report the State Security Service (SSS) filed on Fayose’s activities.

    Besides, the E-Eleven insisted that the Ekiti State House of Assembly impeached Fayose on October 16, 2006, following the report of a validly constituted administrative panel as provided for in Section 188 (5) of the 1999 Constitution. According to the group, the panel found the governor-elect guilty of gross misconduct in 2006, which means he cannot contest governorship election until 2016, in line with the constitutional provision.

    However, the PDP has objected to the claims, saying that the group and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are orchestrating a succession crisis in Ekiti, following the defeat of Governor Kayode Fayemi at the poll.

    Since the case started, there has been anxiety in Ekiti. A judge, Olusegun Ogunyemi, has been attacked by suspected thugs. Although Fayose denied involvement in the attack, the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, has written on how thugs manhandled the judge and prevented him from discharging his constitutional responsibilities to the National Judicial Council (NJC). He said the judge was prevented from ruling on the case before him. Fayose has denied that he sponsored the attacks, saying that the attribution to him was embarrassing.

    At the Election Petition Tribunal, thugs also harassed another judge, Justice John Adeyeye. According to reports, there was pandemonium at the court premises. When thugs invaded the premises, judges, counsel and court workers were manhandled. Court document were allegedly mutilated. Many people were injured. The governor-elect said he did not mobilise the thugs to disrupt proceedings in court.

    Cases of arson have also been reported in Ekiti. A former leader of the road transport union, Mr. Omolafe Aderiye, has been murdered. The APC office has been razed. The campaign office of the governor has also been burnt by suspected thugs. Fayemi  called off his ‘thank you’ tour. He also imposed a curfew on Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. Many indigenes are worried that Ekiti is in the news again for the wrong reason. Some traditional rulers have sued for peace, stressing that the state is greater than the major actors at the centre of the new controversy.

    Irked by the desecration of the temple of justice, the NJC invited all the parties and victims to Abuja. After its meeting, the council condemned the attack on judicial officers and urged the Inspector-General of Police to investigate the incidents. It also directed that the suit should be given accelerated hearing so that it the verdict can be given before Fayose’s inauguration.

    However, to the PDP has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukthar, accusing the chief judge of planning to abort the inauguration slated for October 16. It warned that the unfolding scenario may precipitate a constitutional crisis. The petition titled: “Another Judicial Coup Plotted to Avert the Swearing-in of the Governor-elect of Ekiti State,” was signed by  the Secretary, Dr. Tope Aluko, and the Publicity Secretary, Pastor Kola Oluwawole. The party alleged that Justice Daramola and  Governor Kayode Fayemi had planned “to give accelerated hearing to some suits challenging the eligibility of Fayose for the June 21 governorship election, despite the notice of appeal and the stay of proceedings filed in respect of the suits.”

    The party said that Fayose had challenged the assumption of jurisdiction by an Ado-Ekiti High Court on the matter and also filed a stay of proceedings on the hearing of the substantive suit. It also recalled that the governor-elect has written a letter the CJN, raising fears about attempts “to frustrate the swearing-in of the governor-elect.”

    “This was done in view of Section 185 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers only the Chief Judge of Ekiti State to swear in the governor-elect as the new governor, as Ekiti State presently has no Grand Khadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal or President of the Customary Court of Appeal that can perform similar functions, in the event the chief judge declines to do so,” it added.

    The PDP frowned at the delay in responding to Fayose’s letter of  September 28 to the Chief Justice, six days after Justice Ogunyemi was attacked and four days after Justice Adeyeye was beaten up. It alleged a desperate move by the APC “to obtain a ‘black market injunction’ from an Ekiti State High Court restraining the chief judge from swearing Fayose in.

    The NJC has said that petitions forwarded by parties to the matter “are being looked into.” It has also directed that the matter should be determined before the swearing-in of the governor-elect.  Thus, the APC, the E-Eleven, Fayose and the PDP have to abide by the decision and wait for the court’s verdict.

     

     

  • ‘How Ogun PDP can be strong again’

    ‘How Ogun PDP can be strong again’

    The National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof. Adewale Oladipo, has said the key to the party’s greatness in Ogun State is in the hands of former Governor Gbenga Daniel and the Chairman, Mobilisation and Organisation Committee in the Southwest, Prince Buruji Kashamu.

    He said the party could not afford to record defeat in the coming elections, as experienced in 2011, adding that the working relationship of the duo would ensure the party’s victory.

    Oladipo spoke against the backdrop of Daniel’s surprise visit to the Goodluck Jonathan Political Centre, Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State venue of the Eid-el-Kabir party hosted by Kashamu.

    The event was witnessed by the Ekiti State governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, the National Auditor of the PDP, Alhaji Fatai Adeyanju, former governors of Ogun and Oyo states Chief Gbenga Daniel and Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Senator Teslim Folarin, ex-deputy governor of Ekiti State Mrs. Biodun Olujimi, Dr.  Abisola Sodipo-Clark,  Abiodun Akinlade, Prince Segun Adewale and former deputy governor of Ogun State Alhaja Salimot Badru.

    Members of the party’s executives under the leadership of Bayo Dayo were also represented.

    Oladipo said: “I’m sure with the coming together of Buruji and Daniel, they have demonstrated their friendship. They will consummate it soon by the special grace of God. The National Working Committee (NWC) is encouraging them to do that.

    “We will ensure they come together, work together so that our presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, is re-elected, while the PDP will take over the mantle of leadership in Ogun State by the grace of God next year.”

    The PDP national secretary said Daniel and Buruji have many followers, who must be brought together under one canopy.

    He described them as the two strongest forces as far as Ogun State politics is concerned.

    Said Oladipo: “In Ogun State, some of us familiar with the terrain know that Kashamu is a formidable political activist and an astute politician. He commands a very strong political structure in the PDP.

    “Also, you know that Daniel, a member of the Labour Party, has many supporters. These are the two strongest forces in Ogun State.

    “There may be other minor players, we will accommodate them, but the greatest task before us is to bring Buruji and Daniel together. This has been accomplished.

    “You know birds of a feather flock together. That was why you saw Daniel here with his associates. We in the PDP have worked very hard in bringing the Daniel structure and the Buruji structure together.”

    Kashamu described Daniel’s visit as “significant and a good omen” for the party.

    He said: “Although it was a private visit, it is perhaps a confirmation of my prediction penultimate Sunday that Daniel has no choice but to return to the PDP. As I said on that occasion, most of his foot soldiers had returned to the PDP. It is just a matter of time before Daniel and a few others, who are still outside, will join us.

    “It is a good omen that a party that is not in government at the state level is growing in leaps and bounds everyday. It can only get better in the days, weeks and months ahead.”

     

     

     

  • ‘Only trouble-makers are leaving Ekiti’

    ‘Only trouble-makers are leaving Ekiti’

    EKITI State Governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has denied the claim by Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) that people are relocating from the state in large numbers ahead of his inauguration as governor.

    Fayose, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, yesterday, described the claim by the lawyer as “irrational, bunkum and baseless.”

    He was reacting to a publication in which Falana was quoted as claiming that residents and indigenes were leaving the state.

    Fayose wondered how the lawyer came about such claims, saying the people of Ekiti State who voted for him as their governor on June 21, were eagerly awaiting his inauguration.

    His words: “Ekiti people, who elected Fayose and preferred him over and above Falana’s lackey, are waiting for his coming and for the four years he will lead the state. We know for sure that as our Lord lives, that expectation will not be cut short.

    “Ekiti is as peaceful as any other state. It is people like Falana, who are beating the drums of war and propaganda and are having nightmares in which they are the only ones seeing their own Ekiti in trouble, while the reality is that Ekiti is moving into a golden era.

    “Those causing trouble in the state in the last two weeks are leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their thugs. If people like Jaruu and Apase, who have murder cases hanging on their necks, are leaving the state, security agencies know how to handle their cases.

    “If trouble-makers and people that the Bible calls ‘the troublers of Israel’ are relocating, then, it is good riddance to bad rubbish. If those who have looted the state’s treasury and are afraid of probe are relocating, they should know that the long arm of the law will catch up with them.”

     

     

    “It is common-sense that it is only the guilty that are afraid. Anybody who does not have any skeleton in his cupboard will not be running helter-skelter when nobody is pursuing him.”

     

  • Ekiti: Just before dawn

    Ekiti: Just before dawn

    Conspiracy theorists are likely to be sharpening their knives now in readiness for a big pound of flesh on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the recently concluded gubernatorial election in the self acclaimed state of ‘fountain of knowledge’, Ekiti, Mr. Ayodele Fayose.

    For the records, Fayose is the governor-elect of the state having won the election ‘convincingly’. The doubt over the scale and manner of his victory still lingers in the minds of those who hold the belief that the former of Ekiti state governor was ‘rigged’ into power. That is debatable.

    The event of the past week in Ekiti State that culminated in the assault on a judge of the state High Court and disruption of the sitting of the state’s election petition tribunal by hoodlums suspected to be supporters of Mr. Fayose has raised a serious question on the ability of the governor-elect to administer Ekiti in the next four years beginning from next month. And this is music to the ears of those who believe that Ekiti deserve a better person as governor; and they are sharpening their knives now.

    But before the taking of the pound of flesh, it might be necessary to look at the person, character and personality of the governor-elect to understand those calling for his punishment in the mayhem he led his supporters to unleash on the Ekiti State judiciary and indeed the Nigerian judiciary as a whole. And understanding of where they are coming from could help the reader to support or condemn their position. I must confess that I am not an admirer of Ayodele Fayose, but this does not count as long as he was the choice of his people to be their next governor.

    Sometime in the course of his first tenure as governor of Ekiti State, elder statesman and a prominent indigene of the state Major General Adeyinka Adebayo (rtd) was having his birthday at his country home and in attendance were a host of opposition politicians, including a serving state governor. Adebayo’s son, Niyi, a member of the opposition was the immediate past governor of Ekiti state whom Fayose defeated in 2003. In a scene reminiscent of what took place last week at the premises of an Ado Ekiti High Court, supporters of Fayose, should I call them thugs (?) surrounded the venue of the party and made life unbearable for the birthday boy and his guests. As it is now, so it was then, as the ruling PDP both at the state and federal levels saw nothing wrong with the actions of Fayose and his thugs.

    I recall this column in the Daily Sun then when I asked the question; ‘who is this boy (?) in reference to the childish conduct of then Governor Fayose against those eminent Nigerians gathered in his domain then. That question is still relevant today as it was then. Why did I call him a boy? It is only a boy intoxicated by power that would attack, maroon and molest people old enough to be his father just because he had the power. His fall from power then could be traced to these types of happenings that characterized his aborted first tenure. What Ekiti people have found well in Fayose again I don’t know.

    If not a boy, why on earth would somebody on the verge of being sworn in as governor of his state lead thugs to invade the hallowed temple of justice called the judiciary just because he feared that the court’s decision could go against him. A matured man with his peoples’ ‘mandate’ behind him would have used the judicial process to fight his case; if he had any instead of fighting and desecrating the judiciary. I am sure some among his supporters are sorely annoyed with his conduct; his denial of any part in the mayhem notwithstanding.

    But I am not surprised by Fayose and his conduct. Though trivial as this might seem to some people, my understanding of his character and resentment towards it were borne out of the palaver he was involved in during his first tenure, when his educational qualification was called into question. Fayose claimed to have attended The Polytechnic, Ibadan at a time yours truly also attended that great citadel of learning. As a prominent student on campus those days I could not recall any of the events Fayose claimed to have happened during his time to prove that he was a ‘Great Polyte’. I wasn’t the only one with this doubt as scores of my mates some of them later day friends of Fayose could not recall his days at The Polytechnic, Ibadan either.

    If this was the case, in my own estimation, then the man has no foundation on which to build his character; and nothing, as they say in law can stand on nothing. That’s my position on Fayose, nothing personal. I cannot recall how the matter of his educational qualification was eventually resolved but you can be rest assured that a solution would have been found to it to make him eligible to contest the last election, in spite of the case against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).

    Fayose case/conduct reminds me of Dr Omololu Olunloyo a former governor of old Oyo State in the second republic. After winning a controversial election against the incumbent governor then, late Chief Bola Ige, Olunloyo of the ruling (at the centre) National Party of Nigeria (NPN), before his swearing-in, went round Ibadan especially the strongholds of Ige and his Unity Party of Nigeria, (UPN) threatening the people, the Ijebu and Ijesha in particular of a turbulent experience when he gets to power. His short three months reign was anything but peaceful. Is this what Ekiti should expect from Fayose?

    I wouldn’t have been this critical if Fayose was going in to a lesser public office. But the governor of a state! Haba, he needs to show good character and conduct to serve as an example of how to be a good public officer. Though he claimed in the run up to the election that had learnt his lessons, I doubt whether his leopard can ever change its spots. As Ekiti boils, Governor-elect Ayodele Fayose would have to exercise restraint in order not to escalate the crisis; out-going governor Kayode Fayemi, in these last few days of his tenure would have to rein in his own supporters and moderate his/their comments as well lest he goes down in history as Governor Samson of Ekiti State.

    By the way, why is it difficult for the PDP and the NPN before it to attract good people and credible leaders in Yoruba land that the majority of the people in the region could warm up to? Are there no good people in PDP who could challenge the established order in the South west without resort to thuggery and use of federal might? Was Fayose the best the party could produce in Ekiti? Yes the governor-elect was a populist and in this era of stomach infrastructure he ‘could’ swing the vote for his party. Why not present a more credible person, well respected (they are in abundance in Ekiti) to the electorate and ask Fayose (as a good party man, if he is) to canvass support for that person using his ‘aura’. Look at the characters the party is parading for next year’s gubernatorial election in the other Yoruba states. What about the man they presented in Osun. As long as these people continue to be the face of PDP in the region, the party can forget popular support here.

    We have a problem at hand in Ekiti even before the dawn of Fayose’s new era and all the good people of the state must come together to solve it. My reservation with Mr. Ayodele Fayose notwithstanding, he is the governor-elect and we (including out-going governor Fayemi) must all support him in the interest of Ekiti Kete and our democracy.

     

  • Fayose welcomes probe of attack on Ekiti judge

    Fayose welcomes probe of attack on Ekiti judge

    Ekiti State Governor-Elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has expressed support for the probe of last week’s court fracas in Ekiti during which thugs, who were alleged to be his supporters beat up a judge and tore his suit.

    Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Monday, Fayose called on the National Judicial Council to proceed with investigation into the fracas, saying the findings would reveal what he described as “a can of worms.”

    According to him, the NJC should look at issues dispassionately and not be swayed by the “propaganda” launched by the All Progressives Congress on the origin of the violence.

    He denied slapping the presiding judge, Justice John Adeyeye, adding that stories linking him to the incident were a grand plan by the opposition to stall his inauguration, slated for October 16.

    He said, “What I am saying is that the NJC should launch a thorough probe of the happenings in Ekiti State judiciary and through that, the rot in the system will be exposed.

    “A lot of things are happening there and there are signs that some judicial officers are conniving with the outgoing governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and the APC.

    “The current crisis is an agenda of the APC and their sole aim is to try and get through the back door what the people of the state did not give them on June 21 when they voted overwhelmingly for me and the Peoples Democratic Party.

    “I did not and cannot slap a judge. I cannot slap a house boy, let alone a High Court Judge, and I have utmost respect for judicial officers.

    “The media propaganda that I beat up a judge is an APC agenda to portray me in bad light, having failed to take my mandate through the back door.

    “The Ekiti State Attorney General Wale Fapounda has disclosed that he has spoken with the judge in question, and he spoke on Sunrise programme on Saturday morning on Channels TV, where he made it clear that the news that I slapped the judge was all lies.

    “I did not enter Justice John Adeyeye’s court because I had no business to transact there. The tribunal venue, where I went to, is quite a distance from Adeyeye’s court. Then the pertinent question is, at what point did I meet him?

    “Is it that the judge left his courtroom with his robe to face the so called protesters? Investigation will reveal all this.

    “Up until now, nobody has been able to provide photo or video evidence that I slapped the judge. And the APC people should know that I will not succumb to blackmail and surrender the mandate freely given to me by the people of the state.”

  • Fayose: employment should be by qualification

    Fayose: employment should be by qualification

    Ekiti State governor-elect Ayodele Fayose has said qualified graduates should be employed, irrespective of their political or religious affiliation.

    Fayose spoke yesterday in Ado-Ekiti while distributing employment letters to 11 indigenes, who he assisted to secure jobs at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ido-Ekiti.

    The lucky applicants include Olatuyi Idowu, Toyin Oriola, Bamidele Idowu, Adewumi Felicia, Idowu Gbenga, Osanyintade Bosede and  Bisiriyu Akeem.

    Others are Titilayo Oluwarotimi, Aladelua Bukola and Agunbiade Adesoji.

    Maintaining he had no personal interactions with any of the applicants, Fayose said many qualified graduates responded to his call on radio stations for submission of applications.

    “The call was to ensure that you don’t have to see anybody to get jobs.

    “I have been to immigration and customs and insisted that they support us to get jobs. l want to do everything to assist the people.

    “You don’t have to know the governor, or his wife, or be the son of a minister before you can get a job.”

    He said some other applicants had been fixed at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Department of State Services and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

    Akeem said: “I heard on radio that unemployed graduates should submit their credentials at Fayose’s office.

    “I did and surprisingly, I received a call last Wednesday that I should come for my employment letter.

    “It still seems like a dream because I never believed that it could happen.”

  • Aregbesola’s ‘stomach infrastructure’

    SIR: The governorship election of June 20 in Ekiti State has come and gone. However, one development that lingers on in the aftermath is a new phrase that has entered into the nation’s political lexicon. This is ‘stomach infrastructure’. It refers to the practice of the electorate asking to be paid upfront the dividends of democracy, in material term.

    The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ayodele Fayose, has become the poster boy of this tendency as reports have it that he won because he wooed the voters with food items, especially rice. Many politicians across the land have suddenly become jittery while analysts have expressed concern on the dysfunction that is setting in the democratic process whereby factors like personality, impressive track record and performance in office may no longer determine the outcome of elections but the capacity of candidates to induce voters with food. Tarring roads and providing social infrastructure may not cut it again but stomach infrastructure.

    The PDP has now wrongly projected this perverse tendency to the coming governorship election in Osun State and is now claiming that it would buy the election, just as it did in Ekiti. Well, Osun is not Ekiti and therefore will not produce the same outcome.

    However, if the stomach infrastructure rule will also hold in Osun, then, Aregbesola is far ahead of the PDP in this department. You will recall that Aregbesola has started the stomach infrastructure campaign long before the election. For close to three years now, the government of Ogbeni Aregbesola introduced (and has been running) the home grown school feeding programme for primary school pupils in the state. More than 300,000 pupils are now being fed a sumptuous meal every school day. This is a rich meal containing beef, catfish, chicken, egg and fruits. In addition, a deworming exercise is carried out on a regular basis so that worms will not be sharing the food with the kids.

    This programme is so successful and popular that the British Parliament recently sent a delegation to come and study it preparatory to recommending it to other states in Nigeria and other countries in Africa. The Federal Government has also reluctantly decided to copy this programme and sponsor it in other states in Nigeria.

    This programme tagged ‘O’MEALS’ is also integrated into agriculture and other empowerment programmes in Osun. These are the cocoyam farming, poultry farming and fish farming. The government gave most of these hitherto unemployed youths training, helped them to set up and buys off their produce in bulk from them.

    We even have reports that the parents of the pupils were asking their wards to bring part of their food home so they can share with their siblings. This has made school enrolment to surge in Osun.

    To the best of my knowledge, Omisore has no such programme. All he’s been heard saying is that he will return schools to missionaries. When Aregbesola’s stomach infrastructure through O’MEALS clashed with Omisore’s stomach infrastructure of rice and N2,000 cash, there is no debating that O’MEALS will carry the day.

    The moral here is that political victory belongs to those who have foresight and had worked in advance, not those who crash into election with worthless and subversive gifts.

    • Mike Ogundele,

    Osogbo, Osun State

  • Amala, rice, corn politics

    Following the surprise victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the Ekiti State governorship election,  Ayodele Fayose, it is understandable why supporters  and sympathisers of the All Progressive Congress (APC) are worried about the fate of the party in the forth coming Osun State gubernatorial election and future elections in the South West.

    There are those who fear that the APC may lose its dominant status in the region if the party’s governors do not take necessary measures to prevent a repeat of the Ekiti experience. There have been claims that one of the major reasons Fayose won the election was because he was able to ‘connect’ with the majority of the citizens of the state by providing  ‘stomach infrastructure’  instead of propounding some grandiose policies  of what he hopes to accomplish if he is elected.

    Abimbola Adelakun, a columnist in The Punch captured the joke which the Ekiti election has been reduced to with a facebook post in which she wrote: The lesson of Ekiti Election, serve your rice raw.

    Consequently, APC governors and candidates of other parties have been bombarded with unsolicited advice about the need to adopt what they termed the Fayose’s populist political campaign style to ensure victory.

    Apparently irked by this line of thought, which he said has even been suggested to him by some members of his cabinet, the Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has said he will not reduce governance in his state to ‘Amala’ politics of  sharing rice and money instead of neglecting infrastructural development.

    I agree with Amosun that this advice, informed by those who want the governors to win at all cost is not only an insult on the intelligence of the people but a disservice to the electorate who elected them based on various electoral promises the governors made.

    While there may be lessons for the governors to learn from the Ekiti about matching polices with politics, it will be unfortunate if genuine developmental policies will have to be sacrificed to satisfy momentary needs and selfish political interests.

    Governors and other elected political office holders should strive to meet the expectations of those who elected them and improve on their standard of living, but this should not be done at the expense of the introduction of policies needed to raise the standard of productivity and service in the states.

    If some teachers voted against Fayemi in protest against the introduction of competency test as alleged, Ekiti State is the ultimate loser as it will have to continue to have teachers who are not competent to raise the standard of education as required to meet new realities.

    Edo State governor has reportedly backed down on the sack of teachers who failed the competency test for fear of the political backlash. I would rather have governors who would do what is right and in the best interest of the state now and in the future, instead of those who are so desperate to do anything to remain in office.

    The picture of a governorship candidate of a party holding roasted corn he bought on the roadside has gone viral on facebook. Obviously, the picture is meant to be a publicity stunt to portray him as a  ‘man of the people’ life Fayose,  but the real implication is how cheap the basis for getting elected into political office  has become.