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Tag: endorsements

  • Endorsements and the power-brokers (2)

    Endorsements and the power-brokers (2)

    Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ahmadu Bello endorsed candidates, leveraging their influence and reputation. Awolowo reportedly supported Joseph Fadahunsi (1960), Ayo Akinsanya (1960) and Adekunle Ajasin (1979). Azikiwe backed Michael Okpara (1960), C. C. Onyia (1963) and Chukwuemeka Ojukwu (1966) while Ahamadu Bello endorsed Tafawa Abubakar Balewa (1959), Kashim Ibrahim (1962) and Usman Faruk (1985). Their endorsements carried weight due to regional influence, party leadership, national stature and grassroots connections.

    Awolowo’s vast network and loyal following could make or break candidates, boost credibility, mobilize support, shape party decisions and impact electoral outcomes. By embracing the power of endorsements and learning from the successes of leaders like Awolowo, Azikiwe and Bello, Oyebanji can further solidify his position as a leader who exceeds expectations.

    Without doubt, Oyebanji’s administration has made significant strides in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with notable progress in various sectors. His initiatives have yielded tangible results in agriculture, youth empowerment, sports, and environmental conservation. He prioritized education, healthcare, and economic growth. He also transformed transportation, promoted tourism, and made progress in increasing access to clean water and reducing maternal mortality rates.

    Despite Nigeria’s slow progress (a SDG score of 55.4% so far), Oyebanji’s efforts demonstrate the potential for collective action to drive meaningful change and accelerate SDG progress. His administration continues to protect natural resources, support vulnerable groups and strengthen security. These achievements demonstrate his effective leadership and commitment to improving Ekitis’ lives.

    To build on this momentum, the governor should continue to prioritize skills development and economic growth. By leveraging the state’s strong cultural emphasis on education, he can drive science-focused, agro-industrial development and create a thriving export-oriented economy. This strategic approach can foster sustainable prosperity and further establish Ekiti as a hub for cultural and economic growth.

    Read Also: Normalcy returns to Abuja after protesters’ clash with security operatives

    Governors Seyi Makinde and Muhammed Bago’s efforts to transform Oyo and Niger states’ economies into an export-oriented hub offer valuable lessons for Oyebanji’s vision for Ekiti’s economic transformation. By linking Oke-Ogun to Ibadan within 45-60 minutes, Makinde is boosting economic growth and connectivity in the region. Similarly, BAO, as Oyebanji is dotingly called, can drive agro-industrial growth in Ekiti, to set a benchmark for others to follow.

    Inspired by Indira Gandhi’s ‘Green Revolution’, Oyebanji can partner the Ekiti State University’s Faculty of Agriculture with a global leader to drive an agro-allied revolution in Ekiti. He can establish a liaison desk with the Netherlands’ Commercial Attaché to attract expertise, investments and best practices. His government can also set up tractor-hiring centers, like Uber, to provide farmers with accessible and affordable mechanization services, replicating the Netherlands’ success.

    Ekiti can benefit from financial collaborations with Dutch development finance corporations like FMO and NL Business. These partnerships can unlock expertise, funding, and innovative solutions, driving agricultural growth and economic development. By harnessing Dutch expertise in agriculture and finance, the state can transform into a thriving agro-industrial hub, fostering sustainable economic growth and prosperity.

    It is interesting to note that Oyebanji’s selfless leadership prioritizes state interests over party affiliations, echoing former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s sentiments. He recognizes local governments’ crucial role in Nigeria’s decentralization reforms and has empowered grassroots governance through a successful local election. His endorsement for a second term is a call to deliver higher-quality services and justify the trust placed in him.

    In democratic politics, when one begins to count the number of endorsements that have come Oyebanji’s way, even from hitherto unexpected quarters, one may be tempted to say that it has given him a significant adrenaline boost. Moreover, it suggests that the opposition in Ekiti has no fingers. Therefore, with endorsements pouring in like holy water at a papal coronation, all BAO needs to do is press on, undeterred, resolute, and bathed in the blessings of his benefactors. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, ‘The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.’

    May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!

    •Concluded.

  • Endorsements and endorsers

    Political endorsers are enjoying as much publicity as the presidential candidates they endorse. There is the politics of endorsement and the politics of endorsers.

    The presidential election frontrunners, President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who is seeking re-election, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), enthusiastically welcome endorsements by enthusiastic endorsers.

    Five days to the presidential election on February 16, it is unclear how these endorsements will work, or whether they are of any electoral value. Only the endorsers and those they endorse seem to recognise the power of these endorsements.   After a meeting in Abuja on February 3, the Nigeria Leaders and Elders Forum comprising the leaders of Afenifere, Northern Elders Forum, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum and the Pan Niger Delta Forum endorsed Atiku for president. The  five socio-cultural groups said in a statement:  “We adopt the PDP candidate, as the consensus candidate for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as he has demonstrated the deep understanding of the critical need of the country at this time and possesses the capacity to proffer clear solutions in that respect.”

    The broadness of this endorsement by significant regional groups understandably excited the Atiku presidential campaign organisation.    Atiku’s emotional response revealed his excitement. He said in a statement: “I am moved to tears that in the midst of deep divisions and deliberate use of instrumentalities of state to set our people against themselves in the last three and a half years, responsible and respected leaders across Nigeria have agreed to come together for the purpose of endorsing my candidature for the February 16, 2019 presidential elections.”

    Atiku added: “The endorsement by the leading lights of our nationalities – Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Northern Elders Forum, Pan-Niger Delta Forum and Middle Belt Forum is a loud statement that there is hope for our country as we go to the polls in a few days.”

    Either Atiku was naïve or he just wanted to believe this particular endorsement was unproblematic. “We sympathise with Atiku Abubakar ahead of the February 16 presidential election, if he actually believes that his endorsement by this Afenifere will translate into a harvest of votes for him in the Southwest because it cannot,” the Afenifere Egbe Ilosiwaju Yoruba said in a statement.  This clarifying response highlighted the factionalisation of Afenifere. The faction that endorsed Atiku is led by Chief Reuben Fasoranti.

    Nonagenarian Pa Ayo Fasanmi expressed the opposing position of another faction of the pan-Yoruba group at the February 5 APC presidential rally in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital. Senator Fasanmi described members of the Fasoranti-led faction as political jobbers.  Fasanmi said: “All Yoruba race across Southwest are solidly supporting the President Buhari candidature, except a group of dollar and naira called fake Afenifere who endorsed Atiku Abubakar. They are people with no electoral value and credence in their respective polling units not to talk of the Yoruba land.” He added that his faction “would be celebrating the victory of President Buhari and other APC candidates at the national and state levels.”

    The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) also opposed Atiku’s joint endorsement by the five groups. ACF Secretary-General Chief Anthony Sani said:  ”What is new in this endorsement is the fact that only faction of Afenifere, faction of Ohanaeze, and faction of Northern Elders Forum are actually involved. As a result, the endorsement may not affect the outcomes of the election significantly, since factions cannot possibly represent the whole, let alone to represent the regions, which the platforms profess to represent.”

    Sani argued that the groups involved, excluding the Northern Elders Forum, had endorsed the PDP presidential candidate in 2015, Goodluck Jonathan, yet the APC won. He declared that “ACF, which is the umbrella body for the North, does not share the views promoted by a faction of Northern Elders Forum led by Prof. Ango Abdullahi.”  Sani also said:  “The endorsement of President Buhari by about 71 Generals has dispelled the rumours bandied about that retired Generals have ganged up to unseat President Buhari electorally.”

    Indeed, Buhari’s February 4 endorsement by retired high-ranking military officers from the Army, Navy and Air Force, took the endorsement drama to another level.  The endorsers included a Vice Admiral, two Lt-Generals, 15 Majors General, two Rear Admirals, eight Air Vice-Marshals, 12 Brigadiers-General, three Commodores, nine Air Commodores, and 17 former military governors/administrators.  The generals were led by former military administrator of Lagos State, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (retd).  Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade, and former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Jubril Ayinla, were among the endorsers.

    Marwa, who heads the Presidential Advisory Committee on elimination of drug abuse, told reporters that Buhari was “from our own constituency” and praised his administration.  He said: “And, therefore, the retired military officers today, including former military governors, retired military officers from the ranks of brigadier general and their equivalents from other officers are here today, to tell him and Nigerians that we are fully behind him in the elections next week and we will do whatever we can within the law to see that he is victorious in the elections.”

    Interestingly, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka on February 8 shifted the focus.  ”There is always a choice to be made outside any presumptuous orders – in reality, associations guaranteed to perpetuate social disorders and the politics of inequality,” Soyinka said in an opinion piece titled ‘New Directions in a time of Decision.’ Soyinka, convener of the Citizen Forum, endorsed neither Buhari nor Atiku.  ”This is not the thinking of any one individual but of a large section of this populace. The final determination, however, is – the flag-bearer of the Young Progressive Party– Kingsley Moghalu,” Soyinka declared.

    “This is a very good thing for my party, the YPP and my candidacy because of who Professor Wole Soyinka is in our country and in the world. He is a unique figure,” Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), reacted. Moghalu’s euphoria is understandable but his optimism is misplaced.

    Ultimately, these endorsement shows downplay the general electorate. The picture is that some groups, which are subsets of the electorate, support a candidate and think it is enough to convince the general electorate to support the same candidate. The point is that these political endorsers themselves may well need endorsement by those they want to influence.

  • Facts amidst ritual of endorsements

    Presidential candidates of APC and PDP in next week’s election have in the last four weeks visited many parts of the country selling their candidacy. And desperate to secure the support of the electorate, promoters of each candidate have turned the past week into a season of endorsement.

    Obasanjo is the arrow head of the anti-Buhari group. He has written two letters, all designed to delegitimize his administration. He first floated a coalition led by many of those responsible for the state of affairs in our nation today. He then explored the possibility of mobilizing the youths. He then tried unsuccessfully to align his coalition with Olu Falae’s SDP. When all his efforts failed, he returned to PDP where he has tried to promote the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar demonised since 2007.  Last Sunday, out of desperation, Obasanjo, who prides himself on being Mr. Nigeria as against being a representative of an ethnic group, joined Ayo Adebanjo, the unrepentant Yoruba ethnic irredentist and leader of Pan-Yoruba Afenifere group to reposition himself as the  rallying point for  other regional leaders and socio-cultural groups from other zones of the country viz Northern Elders Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Pan-Niger Delta Forum and the Middle Belt Forum  to adopt  Atiku Abubakar  as their consensus candidate for the 2019 election.

    The group, after blaming Buhari for ‘the banditry in parts of Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto and the insurgency in Borno went on to convince voters that  ‘Atiku possessed the intelligence, capability and knowledge to lead the nation state”. Ayo Adebanjo, campaigning against his own son, Vice President Osinbajo, appealed to those present to “do everything in your(their) power to ensure Atiku wins”, because a vote for Atiku, according to him ‘is a vote for national unity’. And for Atiku Abubakar, the endorsement “is a loud statement that there is hope for our country’

    However for Balarabe Musa, former governor of Kaduna in the second republic, Obasanjo and his group “are clearly ganging up against Buhari not because they don’t know that Atiku is no match to him, but because they are aware that Atiku will not revisit their past misdeeds” and went on to warn that “Nigerians risk having a fascist government under Atiku because of his open alignment with former heads of state and retired generals, who have some questions to answer”.

    But last Monday, barely 24 hours after Obasanjo’s group endorsement of Atiku, 91 retired Generals, also made their way to Abuja to endorse President Buhari.  Speaking on their behalf, Brigadier General Marwa said “We, the retired armed forces officers, representing 99.9% of our colleagues say that we are proud of you; proud to be associated with your administration; and proud to witness this era of Nigeria rising again under your able leadership.

    “We support you fully and totally in the presidential elections next week and will do whatever we can within the law to contribute to your emergence as the victor in the election in order to take Nigeria to the next level.’’

    The most senior of the retired officers, Jubrila Ayinla, a retired vice admiral and former Chief of Naval Staff, said future generations would acquit Buhari as the “most creditable” personality of his time. He went on to congratulate Buhari on behalf of the Generals ‘on the tremendous work done by this administration, and assured him of their support in next week election. Responding, President  Buhari  who said he could not complain over anything he is going through  since he sought for the position, thanked the retired Generals for their support and reiterated that he would continue to do his best in serving the nation”.

    But as Obasanjo, Babangida and Danjuma along with other PDP leading light proclaim themselves as new messiah, it is important to remind ourselves where we were coming from. Buhari inherited a decadent governing elite with a self-serving legislature that short-changed the people from 1999 to 2015 and an untouchable judiciary manned by men that have since been discovered to be ordinary men with feet of clay. With many former PDP party chairmen, ex-senate presidents, ex-speakers of the lower house, ex-governors, serving house committee chairmen, declared ordinary felons through different judicial pronouncements, it was clear, the nation was in firm grips of brigands.

    For instance, Obasanjo inherited a total power capacity of 1,500mw in 1999. The projection while inaugurating the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) in 2001 was to add 10,000MW to the national grid before the end of his term in 2007. But despite Dr. Doyin Okupe’s claim, that ‘before the end of 2014, Nigerians’ long held dream of joining the world’s list of countries with uninterrupted power supply will be closer in reality than it has ever been’ and President Jonathan’s promise that any Nigerian with generator would by 2014 have no need for them, Nigeria was generating 3,717MW by the time PDP was voted out of power in 2015. The true legacy was that after the expenditure of between Yar’Adua’s, $16billion and United Nations special rapporteurs’ $51b, PHCN was shared among those PDP’s leading light including Jerry Gana, the president of the association of distribution companies, who on behalf of his undisclosed friends donated N5b to Jonathan campaign fund in 2014.

    The Lawan Farouk House committee report alleged a theft of N1.7trillion. On January 13, 2013, EFCC had dragged some children of leading PDP leaders to Ikeja High Court for fuel subsidy fraud charges preferred against them.The Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force discovered N10trillion was lost to crude oil theft, from a yearly loss of 250,000 barrels per day or N1trillion yearly. This  include over 60,000 barrels per day from Shell according to Mutiu Sunmonu, Shell Nigeria’s managing director, who went on to appeal “to government confront the big men behind oil theft” put at $7billion in 2011.

    The major beneficiary of Sanusi’s ‘banking Tsunami’ turned out to be known PDP members and their friends. They reaped from the tragedy of helpless Nigerians by buying the banks after Sanusi’s injection of about N400billion of public fund while ordinary investors with less than 200,000 shares were left with nothing

    It is also on record that crisis between herdsmen and Benue people predates Buhari’s presidency. Under President Jonathan, there was a presidential peace committee  led by Michael Zoukumor, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), and Brigadier General John Atom Kpera (rtd), the state chairman, Conflict Resolution and Peace Building Committee, with Alhaji Bello Abdullahi Bodejo, the national president, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, where all members of the peace committee agreed on cessation of hostilities by Fulani herdsmen and their host communities in Benue State in Government House, Makurdi.

    But indiscriminate killing continued with Iyordye Akaahena village and Akuroko village in Guma LGA in Benue losing 34 and with Governor Suswan surviving an ambush during his sympathy visit to Gbajimba LGA.  Maru LGA of Zamfara also lost over 215 while holding a vigilante meeting according to Emir of Dansadau, Alhaji Hussaini Adamu. A simultaneous attack between April 1 and April 2 left 20 dead in Yobe, 32 in Plateau and 30 in Kaduna, while the attack on Tarawa village on April 19 2014   left 77 dead.

    Buhari was elected to put an end to the above mindless killings. But for the purpose of next week election, the electorate must be protected from the falsehood being spread by Obasanjo, Danjuma and other Christians without the spirit of Christ to the effect that Buhari  was behind the activities evil and criminal minded Nigerians and immigrants.

  • Museum of endorsements

    Museum of endorsements


    As the polls for Kogi and Bayelsa governorships loom, news reports show a trend. We read about whole communities declaring for a candidate. I wonder whether such reporters spoke to whole communities. The worst culprit has been the imperial-looking, walking-stick Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State. He probably mistakes his walking stick for a police baton, given the way he governs. And he was a policeman. Sometimes though he poses more like a headmaster. These reports are clearly orchestrated. But this trend began decades ago. As a student, I often wondered how a reporter knew that a whole community endorsed one person without any scientific proof. It is often done by a call or a news release signed by a fawning soldier of the candidate. Reporters and editors should be wary of such reports. Some newspapers reported similar enthusiasms in the just-concluded elections, and the real results turned to be the opposite. Such reports about endorsements will eventually end as collections in a museum of lies. This is a parody of the tale in Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk’s work, The Museum of Innocence.

  • Gale of endorsements for Aregbesola

    Gale of endorsements for Aregbesola

    Apart from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), many groups and associations have endorsed Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola for a second time. ADESOJI ADENIYI and MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE write on the rising profile of the governor, despite the stiff opposition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other defractors.

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbsola will next month celebrate his third year in office. But many stakeholders have already endorsed him for a second term in carnival-like rallies.

    The next governorship poll will hold in the state next year. The members of the political, social and cultural groups that have endorsed him believe that, if he sustains the current tempo of development, Osun State will be a reference point in the country.

    Some traditional rulers have openly identified with the administration because the governor constructed new roads in their domains. Professional groups, who have observed that Aregbesola is constitutionally entitled to a second term, submitted that his scorecard will be an added advantage.

    Some individuals and groups have also placed adverts, urging the governor to sek a second term. Continuity, they said, would guarantee more dividends of democracy for the rural dwellers.

    The strindent appeals to Aregbesoal to seek another term by the stakeholders motivated the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to endorse the governor for a seond term. Justifying decision in Osogbo, the state caopital, Elder Lowo Adebiyi, the acting chairman, said: “Aregbesola is the pride of the party and indeed, the progressive family in Nigeria”.

    So far, the governor has no challenger in the APC. Observers also argue that his profile is intimidating to the governorship aspirants in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is now polarised by the consensus option for picking a candidate for the proposed poll, the resuscitated Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), which has been disowned by the Awoists, the fragile Alliance for Democracy (AD), and Labour Party (LP), which is a weak platform.

    Apart from his performance, many believe that Aregbesola has consolidated his political structure and become a rallying point for the progressives in the state. Across the towns and villages, the voters explained that, in 2011, they voted for the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) federal and state parliamentary candidates because of the confidence they had in the governor. For instance, no member of the House of Assembly, including the Speaker, could lay claim to winning the election without the governor’s support.

    Also, party chieftains believe that Aregbesola’s influence transcends Osun State. The Southwest APC, which perceives him as a man of great talents and initiatives, have often tapped from his experience as a leader in the region. During the last governorship election in Ondo State. He was a pillar of support for the ACN candidate, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN). At the campaigns and rallies, he mobilise support for the progressive family, urging them to remember their past labours in the vineyards of the proscribed Action Group (AG) and Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) led by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    Aregbesola is also at the vanguard of regional integration. In the struggle for true federalism and regionalism, he has been a steady voice. Although the APC national leaders have not reacted to the multiple endorsement, it is doubtful, if any party chieftain would come out to struggle for the ticket with the governor next year. As a party chieftain put it, “no one stays in the front of a moving train”.

    Three years ago, it was an uphill task. The ruling PDP had declared that no vacancy existed in the Bola Ige House. Aregbesoal’s mandate had been stolen in 2007. Unperturbed by the threat to decree him out of existence, he persisted, full of hope for a brighter future. His army did not waiver in spirit. His victory at the Appeal Court heralded a new dawn. “Had he not reclaimed his stolen mandate, the state would have lost the opportunity to benefit from his PDP in the state saw him more of a threat than anyone because of his brilliance,vision, his sense of mission and discipline”, said Senator Mudashiru Hussain.

    The deputy governor, Mrs. Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, described him as a focussed leader, stressing that he had set a standard for future leaders. Even, some opposition politicians have confessed that Osun State is better and happier under Aregbesola Administration.

    But the governor is not carried away by the activities of praise singers. He said when such praises get into the heads of unsuspecting leaders, they begin to misbehave because they may see themselves as gods.

    Recently, President of the Osun State Council of Traditional Rulers, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, endorsed him for a second term ambition. Also, the civil servants, under the aegis of Trade Union Congress, the people of Ikirun, the state lawmakers and federal legislators called aspire to serve beyond 2014. Many civil, socio-political and non-governmental organisations, including ‘De Raufs’, the Peoples Welfare League, the council chairmen, women and youths have signified their intention to join his campaign train.

    The endorsement of Aregbesola by both the Ooni and the TUC took place in Ile-Ife, when the governor paid a courtesy visit to Oba Sijuwade. The monarch said his open endorsement was informed by his appreciation for his developmental projects across the state. He said Aregbesola deserves a second term in office, considering his lofty achievements.

    Also, the chairman of the TUC, Comrade Francis Adetunji, said: “There has not been a governor in Osun State, who demonstrated much love for workers in the state as Aregbesola has done. We are grateful to the governor and he can count on our support. We shall support him to rule the state for the second term.“

    The senator representing Osun Central District, Prof. Sola Adeyeye, said Osun is lucky to have Aregbesola as governor. He said the people have not voted for him him vain, urging them to continue to support him.The ‘Forum of Legislators’ said Aregbesola’s stride in the past three years is visible, adding that the visionary leader is a blessing to the state. “His preoccupation is the welfare and well-being of the general populace”, it added.

    At the programme, Aregbesola explained his policy and programmes. He said he had a pact to serve creditably and loyally, promising never to let the people down.

    His foot-soldiers are at work on the field. They are not leaving anything to chance. Also, the people and groups, apart from endorsing him for second term, are mobilizing support for him, ahead of the 2014 poll. Many of them move about in cars branded in Aregbesola’s name. Others have printed handbills and leaflets to sell his candidacy at the poll. Many are urging him to announce that he would run for the second term.

    At his Ife/Ijesa home front, the support is overwhelming. But two aspirants on the platform of the PDP from this district. The former Chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Iyiola Omisore, and the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Defense, Hon. Wole Oke, are struggling for the PDP ticket. Omisore was defeated by Senator Babajide Omoworare, who hails from from Ile-Ife like him. Others PDP aspirants are former Minister of Youth Development Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi, and forme Secretary to Government (SSG), Alhaji Fatai Akinbade. The UPN aspirant is the former Head of Service, Mr. Segun Akinwusi. But how far they can go in 2014? Time will tell.

  • ‘A million endorsements not enough for Fayemi’

    Ekiti State House of Assembly Speaker Adewale Omirin has said the endorsement of Governor Kayode Fayemi by various groups and individuals for a second term is not enough to appreciate his “unprecedented achievements”.

    He said the endorsements showed “the people’s faith in the Fayemi administration”.

    Omirin spoke on Monday in Ode-Ekiti, Gbonyin Local Government Area, during the council’s “Fayemi Endorsement Rally”.

    Leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) urged the governor to be ready to serve the state for another four years after completing his current tenure.

    Also at the rally were Chief Ibidapo Awojolu; Hon. Bamidele Faparusi (Emure/Gbonyin/Ekiti East Federal Constituency); Special Adviser to the Governor on Chieftaincy Affairs Chief Aderemi Ajayi; Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Paul Omotoso and the Caretaker Chairman of the council, Mr. Femi Awe.

    Describing as “magical” the transformation of the state by the Fayemi administration in less than three years, Omirin said “focus and transparency” were responsible for the change.

    He said: “Sections, constituencies and councils will continue to endorse Fayemi. One million endorsements would not be enough to fully appreciate what he has done.

    “The changes we have seen in Ekiti are more than commendable. Fayemi’s performance has been astounding, excellent and evenly distributed. He does not pretend or make up. Whatever has been reported done has been well done and can be confirmed.

    “Imagine how the doubting Thomases have been answered. Today, Ado-Ekiti is a state capital in every regard. The 183 public schools have been renovated; 20,000 elders get N5,000 stipend monthly, among other achievements.”

    Omotoso said: “It is time people began to appreciate Fayemi for what he has done. We are more proud today to be from Ekiti than we were less than four years ago.”

    Faparusi said the governor has fulfilled all his electioneering promises.

    He said: “We urge Fayemi to kindly consider this plea from all of us. Wherever I go, people look at me and ask me how Fayemi has been doing it. There is no miracle about it. He has a plan and has stuck to it, despite impediments.”

    ACN leader in the council Chief Ibidapo Awojolu said the endorsement rallies across the state were to thank the governor and encourage him to do more.

    The party’s Chairman in the council, Alhaji Ajisola Ganiyu, said: “Our purpose is known. We are here to tell him to prepare to continue governing the state after the 2014 election, as he has to serve this state for eight years.”

    The speaker’s media aide, Mr. Wole Olujobi, said: “It is impossible to pretend that nothing is happening in Ekiti. The world has seen what we are seeing and has given credit to the governor.”

    Some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members were received into the ACN at the rally.

    Mr. Abiodun Eyinmenugun, who led the defectors, said their decision was based on projects executed by the governor in their villages.

    He said: “Fayemi has not rejected us. We did not vote for him and I know he knew it, but he has done a lot for us. He has given us roads and a hospital. We never had these before.”