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Tag: Fayose

  • Ekiti poll: Aluko floors Fayose as court quashes arrest warrant

    Ekiti poll: Aluko floors Fayose as court quashes arrest warrant

    An Ado Ekiti High Court has quashed a warrant of arrest issued against a former Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Dr. Temitope Aluko.

    The state government through the Office of the Attorney General on February 3,2016, secured the bench warrant seeking Aluko’s arrest at an Ado Ekiti Chief Magistrate’s Court presided over by Mr. Adesoji Adegboye.

    The state government had approached the Magistrate’s Court to compel the police to arrest Aluko for alleged perjury after claiming that the election which brought Governor Ayo Fayose to power was rigged.

    The Fayose administration averred that Aluko had committed perjury having earlier testified before the governorship election Tribunal that the election was free and fair.

    But the state High Court presided over by Justice John Adeyeye set aside the bench warrant issued by the Magistrate’s Court following the hearing of a motion ex-parte filed and sworn to by Fayose’s aide, Lere Olayinka.

    The case with Suit Number HAD/191M/2016 has Attorney General of Ekiti State as applicant while the Commissioner of Police is the respondent.

    The application was seeking an order of the court granting leave for the applicant to apply for the issuance of prerogative writ of mandamus to compel the respondent to discharge its statutory duty to arrest and investigate Aluko for alleged perjury and be made to face trial as a result of the investigation.

    But Justice Adeyeye, according to an Enrolment of Order obtained by our reporter on Friday nullified the bench warrant issued by the Chief Magistrate’s Court on ground that motion was not filed within three amounts allowed by law after Aluko had given evidence before the Tribunal.

    The certified copy of the Enrolment of Order was issued at the High Court Registry, Ado Ekiti bythe presiding Judge on Thursday, 5th of May, 2016.

    Justice Adeyeye ruled: “This application was brought pursuant to Order 40 of the High Court of Ekiti State Civil Procedure Rules.

    “Order 40 Rules (4) provides as follows: an application for judicial review shall be brought within three months of the date of occurrence of the subject of application.

    “Since Dr. Temitope Aluko was alleged to have committed the offence of perjury when he testified before the Election Petition Tribunal on 12/11/2014, the subject matter of the application is clearly a period of more than three months stipulated by Order 40 Rule (4).

    “The application having been brought outside the period stipulated by the Rules of this Court, in my humble view, is incompetent. It should be dismissed. I hereby dismiss it.”

  • Drama as workers block Fayose, CMD from entering hospital

    Drama as workers block Fayose, CMD from entering hospital

    An attempt by Governor Ayo Fayose to convince workers of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti (FETHI) to allow the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Dr Majekodunmi Ayodele, return to office failed yesterday.

     Irate workers shut the main gate against the state’s number one citizen and the hospital boss.

    Hundreds of workers blocked the gate and vowed to prevent Ayodele from resuming office.

    They insisted that the CMD must go for peace to return to the hospital, nursing fears that they may be victimised if he returns.

    The protesters displayed three mock coffins at the gate, on which they wrote uncomplimentary remarks.

    Traditional rulers mediating in the crisis left in anger as the workers became unruly, singing abusive songs.

    Policemen, operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Department of State Services (DSS) were on ground to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

    The workers maintained that neither Fayose nor the CMD would be allowed into the hospital.

    They alleged that Ayodele insulted them by sitting in his car while the governor was addressing them.

    The chairmen of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) and Nigeria Union of Allied Health Workers, Dr. Austin Ibikunle and Efe Asagba, begged the workers to listen to the governor.

    Ibikunle described the CMD as “too high-handed and immature” to manage the hospital.

    He said: “The CMD has become a former CMD. He has been sacked and he has gone forever.”

    Addressing the workers,  Fayose said he would write to the Federal Government to change the hospital leadership.

    The workers accused Ayodele of carrying out rituals and complicity in the death of three doctors, who died on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway on their way to the national conference of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).

    The CMD denied the allegations.

    The governor said: “I appreciate you for your patience but as a leader, I am bound to bear all.

    “I want you to know that we have no other place than Ekiti.

    “In my interaction with Dr. Ayodele  on Tuesday, I realised that he has not done well.

    “But since we are on the same page, I want us to manage this problem in the state’s overall interest.

    “There is nobody who has seen the state of things in the hospital who will be happy with Dr. Ayodele.

    “ I told him that he didn’t do well. I told him that if he were to be in advanced country, he should resign.

    “I was able to remind him that you can’t be bigger than the institution or the community you represent.

    “I want to let you know that he (Ayodele) is not with me, I came on my own.

    “You have a good case but don’t allow hoodlums to hijack this protest from you.

    “I will write my report to Abuja today and I will make my recommendations.

    “The Federal Government must remove Ayodele since he no longer enjoys your confidence.

    “If the Federal Government fails to remove him and if anything happens here, it  will be held responsible.

    “I am also directing the police and security agencies to work together and not allow hoodlums hijack the protest.

    “I want to appeal to you  to attend to patients so that through your action you will not kill more people and lose more lives.”

  • Fayose: no grazing land for herdsmen in Ekiti

    Fayose: no grazing land for herdsmen in Ekiti

    •I won’t support Sheriff for presidency in 2019

    Governor Ayo Fayose has declared Ekiti State a no-go area for Fulani herdsmen.

    Speaking yesterday night during his monthly media chat, Meet Your Governor, monitored by our reporter, Fayose urged the people to put  “Gammalin 20” inside water to kill the herdsmen’s cows.

    He declared that the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff, will retain his position at the party’s May 21 National Convention in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    But he vowed to work against Sheriff if the PDP boss plans to transmute himself to a presidential candidate in  2019.

    The governor described himself as eminently qualified for the position of Vice President, saying “God is taking him to a higher place after his term expires in October 2018”.

    He wondered why herdsmen, who used to carry sticks, now brandish AK-47 assault rifles.

    The governor criticised President Muhammadu Buhari for his silence on the rampaging herdsmen.

    Fayose revealed that he rears cows in his hometown of Afao-Ekiti without constituting nuisance to the locals.

    He urged residents to be ready to poison the cows.

    The governor said: “What I said was that we will now be more proactive, if you bring your cow to come and eat up my farmland, I will put Gammalin 20 inside the water they will drink from. That is what I will do to those destroying our communities and raping our wives.

    “I heard that 83 cows have been killed since I made the statement. If you come to Afao and eat up my palm tree, we have set traps for grass cutters and rodents and the trap will catch them.

    “There is no land for grazing in Ekiti State. Power to assign land belongs to the governor. Tell them that there is no land for grazing here because it is my right to sign the C of O (Certificate of Occupancy)”.

    Speaking further on PDP politics, Fayose said:”Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is the PDP chairman and he is going to continue in office.

    “If he gives me the VP slot, it is a good thing for Ekiti people even though, you cannot set out to say you want to be VP.

    “But you people should not worry yourself about 2019 because nobody knows who will be alive in 2019 but mentioning my name for VP is good for Ekiti.

    “I will not support Ali Modu Sheriff for President in 2019. I am qualified to be VP if it is the will of God. God is taking me to a higher place, how, I don’t know.”

    Fayose was stung when he was reminded by one of the panelists that when his tenure expires in October 2018, President Buhari would still be in office.

    The governor fired back: “My brother, you are not a wise man by asking that question; anybody talking about what will happen in 2019 now is not a wise man.

    “Nobody knows that APC would become a ruling party in the last elections.

    “I am not afraid of anybody, you can charge me to court, they charged me to court, I won.

    “They harassed my wife and the court awarded damages against them, they charged our lawmakers to court, we won.

    “Do you want to tell me that because I am in opposition I should keep quiet? I am not afraid of them and I am not afraid of being detained.

    “I will continue to criticise them because it was God who brought me here.”

     

     

  • Fayose, journalists and herdsmen

    Fayose, journalists and herdsmen

    GOVERNOR Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State does not have to make sense whenever he speaks, but he has contrived by his inimitable capacity for wrongdoing and melodrama to always make the news. His ideas, if they can be so described, do not have to reflect any thinking or effort, due to their spontaneity, but like the Giffen good, they push out finer and more brilliant ideas from newspaper front and inside pages. Is he capable of remorse? It is only someone who can reflect that has that capacity. Mr Fayose does not reflect, cannot entertain regret, and is so engrossed in causing offence on a gargantuan scale that he has no capacity to pause between one folly and another. Till he breathes his last, he will keep to this style, believing that it is rewarding and even enthralling.

    If the media had the capacity to black him out from the news, on account of his noxious views, they would not have invited him to their World Press Freedom Day activities organised by the Oyo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Ibadan last week. At the Dapo Aderogba Hall where the event held, the loquacious governor seized the moment to vent his spleen, complete with pettifogging details of his private philosophy, on anything and anyone that caught his fancy. Since the federal government dithered in taking firm and sensible measures to rein in the killing machine that some herdsmen had become, he gloated, he had instructed indigenes of his state to poison animal watering holes with special fungicidal preparations to harm cattle. The people had a right to defend themselves against predators, he roared.

    He did not indicate how the people would determine the criminal elements among the herdsmen. Indeed, it seemed to him, since the people could not discriminate the killers from the law-abiding cattle rearers, it was better to deter all of them.  His obtuse, and in many ways criminal, panacea would sadly resonate with some people, though they would be reluctant to implement that atrocious, horrendous and impracticable idea. Ekiti would certainly not be able to determine how the flow of poisoned water would be channeled for the specific consumption of herdsmen and to the exclusion of indigenous goats and rams.

    Mr Fayose’s asinine ideas are fuelled by the equally asinine fulminations of herdsmen who hubristically declared last week that no one could prevent them from grazing from the North to the South of Nigeria, or that if they were attacked, they would not muster the whole of Africa against the native attackers. The problem is worsened by the federal government’s own thoughtless perspective as exampled by their declaration that they needed some eighteen months to proffer solutions to the perennial clashes between farmers and herdsmen, many of whom are indigenous Fulani, perhaps aided by a few non-Nigerian Fulani. To cap a season of madness catalysed by sloppy governance, and regardless of the frequency of the herdsmen-farmers clashes and the mounting body count, the security agencies waited to be advised by the presidency to rein in the killers. It is such brazen and insufferable laxity that emboldens the likes of Mr Fayose and gives his strange views currency.

    But the Ekiti governor was not done. He was invited to make his contribution on the topic of press freedom, and did he go to town with stupefying ideas about who the ideal pressman should be and what the role of the press in a democracy must also be! Apart from the usual objectivity and independence expected to accompany media work, Mr Fayose suggests that the journalist must resist the seductions and blandishments of politicians, and chart a reasonable and reliable path for the society in its march to the future. He spoke well, surprisingly soaring to giddy heights of elocution and passion: “You are the last hope of the common man. When journalists support looters, there is confusion of vision. Journalists should shy away from it. Bad politicians should be brought to justice. Don’t write about issues you don’t know. Don’t rely on what a politician told you of his supposed enemy and don’t inherit his enemies. Journalists must help bring corrupt politicians to justice. When politicians are going wrong, let them feel the heat first from you.”

    All this came from a man whose iconoclastic, predatory and natural instinct is to disrespect and demolish everything around him, including media professionals, his betters, and great societal values. It is a miracle how it did not occur to him that everything he said about the media and journalists is a standard refutation of his private morality and a complete repudiation of his public persona. Well, the miracle is explained simply by the fact that Mr Fayose comes closest to the literary creation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: where the public sees dissonance or contradiction, Mr Fayose sees only the two faces of Janus to which he is neither averse nor displeased.

  • Fayose’s threat to herdsmen sparks tension in Ekiti

    Fayose’s threat to herdsmen sparks tension in Ekiti

    The statement made by Ekiti governor, Ayo Fayose calling on farmers in the state to poison their water to ward off invasion by herdsmen has sparked tension among the Fulani residents in the state.

     Fayose made the statement on Tuesday while delivering a lecture organized by the Oyo State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ibadan, the state capital to mark this year’s World Press Freedom Day.

     A member of the Fulani community in the state who spoke in confidence said that his members were shocked by the governor’s comments and have resolved to lodge a complaint with the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe.

     Also, the Fulani cattle  rearers resident in Ekiti who found the remarks “offensive” have resolved to report Fayose to the State Council of Traditional Rulers led by the Ologotun of Ogotun Ekiti, Oba Oladapo Oyebade.

     The source who pleaded not to be quoted because he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the Fulani in Ekiti State described the governor’s comment as “unbecoming” and capable of creating unwarranted crisis between them and the local farmers.

     According to him, the Fulani in Ekiti State are now living in palpable fear because anything could happen to them and their herds since the governor issued directives to people to poison their water if they notice any untoward attitude from herdsmen.

     He said: “What many  people don’t know is that there is a difference between the Fulani and the Bororo . W have been in Ado for long doing our businesses and I don’t think any of us could resort to killing of our hosts , what for?

     “We know that the Obas own the towns and the land, so we want to appeal  to them to help us reach out to the governor not to go to that  extent. We have been co-existing peacefully with our hosts and I don’t think such a statement would help in sustaining the existing peace in the land.

     “Though, we want to make it abundantly clear that we condemn the wanton killings and maiming of innocent Nigerians by some  suspected herdsmen , but we are assuring that such will not happen in Ekiti.

     “As much as we  are ready to cooperate with government and other stakeholders to make the state peaceful , we should also be mindful of our comments, actions and inactions  because that too could ignite unnecessary tension”.

  • Labour leader to Fayose: pay salaries

    Labour leader to Fayose: pay salaries

    The court-validated Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Ekiti State, Kolawole Olaiya, has expressed concern over the  non-payment of four-month arrears of salaries.

    Olaiya, in a letter to Governor Ayo Fayose, said workers could go on strike.

    He said many government employees have become beggars.

    In the letter entitled: “The right of workers to go on strike as a veritable instrument of labour”, Olaiya advised the governor to stop coercing the workers against going on an industrial action.

    Olaiya was in February compulsorily retired from the civil service for maintaining that the Fayose administration had received a bailout fund from the Federal Government.

    After facing an Administrative Panel of Inquiry, Olaiya, a lawyer, was demoted from Principal Legal Officer Grade Level 12 to State Counsel Grade Level 10.

    He won a case at the Nigeria Industrial Court, Akure Division, which held that he remained the authentic TUC Chairman in Ekiti but the government recognises Odunayo Adesoye.

    He vowed to challenge his sack and not stop his agitation for better welfare for Ekiti workers.

  • Mimiko, Fayose in battle for Southwest PDP’s soul

    Mimiko, Fayose in battle for Southwest PDP’s soul

    Parallel meetings hold today in Akure, Ijebu-Igbo

    Zoning crisis deepens

    The National Auditor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adewole Adeyanju, yesterday described the suspension of Ogun State Chairman Chief Adedayo Dayo, by the State Working Committee as illegal and unconstitutional.

    In a statement yesterday, Adeyanju said Dayo and Secretary of the party in the state, Alhaji Seminu Sodipo, were reported to have been suspended by nine members of the SWC on Monday in Abeokuta.

    Adeyanju said no state chapter of the party had the power to suspend or discipline its chairman without following due process as contained in the party’s Constitution.

    He said only the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party had such power and could be enforced only after thorough investigation into allegations against the chairman.

    “Chief Dayo being a member of the NEC of the Party can only be disciplined or suspended from office by the NEC based on reports from the state chapter of the party upon thorough investigation.

    “This has not been, and until this is done, the purported suspension is illegal,” Adeyanju said.

    He added that the suspension became questionable as some of the SWC members involved in the action had left the party prior to the 2015 general elections.

    “Many of them went to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) while some moved to the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the party had since replaced them from their respective zones.

    “They are only coming back to cause crisis in the Party. This, we will not allow to happen,” he said.

    Dayo and Sodipo were purported suspended indefinitely over alleged financial impropriety, imposition of candidates and exclusion of party officials from the ongoing party congresses in the state.

    There seems to be no end in sight to the crisis rocking the Southwest Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The two factions hold parallel meetings today in Akure, the Ondo State capital, and Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State, to discuss its proposed national convention.

    The Akure meeting, which is slated for the Government House, Alagbaka, is convened by Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who is leading party elements opposed to the zoning of the national chairmanship to the North and moves by the chairman, Senator Modu Sheriff, to extend his tenure beyond the May 21 convention.

    The Ijebu-Igbo meeting, which has the backing of Senator Buruji Kashamu (Ogun East) and five PDP state chairmen, is being convened by Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose.

    A statement by the PDP National Vice Chairman, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, said the Ijebu-Igbo meeting, which will take place at Omoilu Foundation Headquarters, will forge a common front on the zoning of party positions, ahead of the national convention billed for Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    Expected at the meeting are members of the NEC from Southwest, Board of Trustees (BoT) members, former and serving governors and deputy governors, former and serving senators, and former and serving National Assembly members.

    Others are former governorship candidates and their running mates, former ministers and ambassadors, six state chairmen and members of the working committees, former and present members of Houses of Assembly and 50 selected leaders from each of the six states.

    But, a source close to Miniko said: “The real meeting of Yoruba leaders in the PDP takes place tomorrow (today) in Akure. The governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, is convening the meeting on behalf of the leaders. We know that some people have slated a parallel meeting at Ijebu-Igbo.  But, that Ijebu-Igbo meeting is a non-event.”

    According to the source, prominent PDP leaders expected at the Akure meeting include former Deputy Chairman Chief Olabode George, former Transport and Aviation Minister Chief Ebenezer Babatope, former Works Minister Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, former Majority Leader of the House of Representatives Hon. Mulikat Adeola-Akande, former Sports and Special Duties Minister Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chief Jumoke Akinjide, Senator Femi Kila, Senator Bode Olajumoke, Ambassador Dare Bejide, Chief Ladosu Ladipo, Dr, Doyin Okupe, Chief Yekini Adeojo, Chief Joju Fadairo, Prince Nekan Olateru-Olagbegi and Capt. Tunji Shelle.

    It is not certain whether former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel will attend the Akure or Ijebu-Igbo meeting. Although he was present at the PDP elders’ meeting in Lagos two weeks ago, he did not speak at the meeting.

    The source added: “It is possible that some leaders from other zones will also attend the Akure meeting in solidarity with the cause of the Southwest.”

    Shedding light on what he described as the Southwest cause, the source said: “There is an effort to relegate the Southwest to the background in the PDP by some elements who are sacrificing our interest on the altar of their 2019 ambition. These are the Southwest elements backing the zoning of the chairmanship and the presidential candidate of the PDP to the North.”

    The zonal body split into two factions a month ago, following the zoning of the chairmanship to the North. The Fayose/Kashamu camp endorsed the zoning and backed Sheriff’s chairmanship aspiration. Other Southwest leaders, led by George, opposed it, saying that the slot should have been zoned to the Southwest.

    At a meeting of some PDP  leaders in Lagos, George said it was strange that the two critical positions of chairman and presidential standard bearer are zoned to the North, in utter insensitivity to the interest of the South. The BoT member also said Sheriff’s ambition is contradictory to his promise to hand over to a new chairman at the convention.

    Ahead of the ratification of the zoning arrangement by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, some PDP leaders from the Southwest had stormed the PDP National Secretariat to show solidarity for Sheriff’s bid. In the delegation were the chairmen of the PDP in Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Lagos. However, the Lagos chairman, Capt. Tunji Shelle, retraced his steps, saying that he was not properly briefed about the mission to Abuja.

    Party sources said during the meeting of the PDP Governors’ Forum, which considered the Committee report  on Zoning, headed by Akwa Ibom State Governor ,  Mimiko pleaded with the governors and other party leaders to consider the agitation of the Southwest for the position, but without success.

    At the meeting of the Southwest PDP Elders’ Summit in Lagos convened by George, party leaders, especially those attending the Akure meeting, vowed to resist the zoning arrangement, saying that it was in bad faith. According to the zoning formula, the national secretary, the national publicity secreatry and the national auditor are zoned to the Southwest.

    Hope of a truce between the two factions dimmed this week when Fayose fired salvos at George, describing him as a spent force. He said it was curious that elders who have dominated the political scene for decades were unwilling to give youths a chance to actively participate in party affairs because of their over-bearing influence.

    The Ekiti governor also said that George has an axe to grind with him because he refused to support his chairmanship bid.

     

  • Fayose: my criticisms of Buhari healthy for Nigeria

    Fayose: my criticisms of Buhari healthy for Nigeria

    • Governor speaks at Press Freedom Day lecture

    Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose yesterday described President Muhammadu Buhari as “my father” and that it becomes improper for him to abuse the President as widely claimed.

    He maintained that “being his grandfather” does not mean he would not criticise him when going in the wrong direction.

    The governor, who was a guest speaker at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) World Press Freedom Day lecture yesterday in Ibadan, said he would rather die than conceal the truth.

    Speaking on “Journalism and Politics : Two Sides of A Coin,” the controversial governor said there were two things that people are afraid of death and jail but as far as he is concerned he is not afraid to die or be locked away .

    According to him, his criticism of the President is healthy for Nigeria and the people to achieve economic and political growth.

    He said it would be absurd for all to watch and refuse to talk even when the ship of the nation is drifting away.

    Citing instances of illegal arrest and detention of some Nigerians by Federal Government agents without evidence of any criminal charges, Fayose said it was against the rights of any citizen to be detained for several weeks without any proof.

    Insisting that his unrelenting criticism of President Buhari was not out of bitterness or hatred, the guest speaker said: “I don’t abuse Buhari because he is my grandfather. But we all must not sleep and face the same direction in this country.

    “The people voted for him because they wanted change, and I agreed with that because we really needed change. They told Nigerians that when they get to power there will be no subsidy and there will be no queues again but today full subsidy and queues are here.

    “In the last 12 months Nigerians have never had it so bad. Most generators are exhausted.

    “I am not here to challenge anybody but to tell Nigerians that we are in the wrong direction. Nigeria is in turmoil. When you want to deal with corruption, deal with corruption holistically.

    “When I won election they said it was made possible by an army general, and they sanctioned the general. But in Bayelsa people were mercilessly killed, the general was not sanctioned. Look when I started I never lost any battle. I conquered consensus in my party.”

    Fayose called on journalists to hold leaders accountable to save the country from the challenges confronting it.

    According to him, a lot of journalists do not have loyalty in Nigeria, “what they are concerned about is their stomach”.

    “Most politicians are using journalists for their dirty jobs. Nigerian journalists shy away from the truth because they are self-centred and greedy.

    “Politicians have no address and this is why it is possible for a man to defect from PDP after 12 years into APC and is celebrated as a saint. Journalists should stop supporting and having soft spots for parties and politicians.”

    Going further the governor said: “President Buhari is too old to rule this country and that is why there is problem in this land now. Nigeria should not produce any president that is over 60““`. Younger people should rise and challenge older people. The stealing going on in this present administration is more than the one during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s period. We as politicians must be secondary in the books of journalist and we are only self-seekers.”

    On the incessant killings by Fulani herdsmen, Fayose warned them to stay off Ekiti State.

    In his welcome address, the State NUJ Chairman, Gbenga Opadotun, said:”This day is to identify with the brutality and harassment faced by journalists.

    He praised  Fayose for appointing a journalist in his cabinet.

     

  • Buhari is my grandfather – Fayose

    Buhari is my grandfather – Fayose

    … ‘I didn’t abuse President’

    Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Tuesday described President Muhammadu Buhari as “my grandfather, “saying it is improper for him to abuse the President as widely claimed.

    But the governor maintained that “being his grandfather” does not mean he would not criticise him when going in the wrong direction.

    Fayose, who was a Guest Speaker at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) World Press Freedom Day lecture held on Tuesday in Ibadan, Oyo State, said he would rather die than concealing the truth.

    Speaking on the topic “Journalism and Politics : Two Sides of A Coin,” the controversial governor said there were two things that people were afraid of, that is they were  afraid to die and were also afraid to be locked away.

    Fayose said his criticism of President Buhari is healthy for Nigeria and the people of the country to achieve economic and political development.

    According to him, it would be absurd for all to watch and refused to talk even when the ship of the nation is drifting away dangerously to perdition.

    Citing the illegal arrest and detention of some Nigerians by agents of the federal government without any evidence of criminal charges, he stated that it was against the rights of any citizen to be detained for several weeks without any proof.

    While insisting that his unrelenting criticism of President Buhari was not due to bitterness or hatred, the guest speaker said “I don’t abuse Buhari because he is my grandfather. But we all must not sleep and face the same direction in this country. The people voted for him because they wanted change and I agreed with that because we really needed change.

    “They told Nigerians that when they get into power there will be no subsidy and there will be no queues again but today full subsidy and queues are here.

    “In the last 12 months, Nigerians have never had it so bad. Most generators have been exhausted.”

     

  • ‘Fayose has committed cultural treason’

    ‘Fayose has committed cultural treason’

    A group, ‘Lagos Collectives,’ yesterday chided Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose for making disparaging remarks about the Southwest Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders.

    Its leader, Prof. Tejumade Akitoye-Rhodes, said in a statement that the governor has committed cultural treason by abusing his elders.

    He described Fayose as a reckless, ill-tempered, virulent, deceitful, primitive, and unfocused politician.

    Akitoye-Rhodes lamented that the governor has stepped beyond the bounds of decency and civility by pouring venom on credible Yoruba leaders in the PDP.

    He said: “Fayose, no doubt, is straying in misplaced priorities and dabbling in mindless misadventure. The quixotic and confused rabble rouser gives the dubious impression of a populist and an honest public officer campaigning for equity and fairness in the polity.  He is nothing of such.

    “In his recent idiocy on national television, this rabid and vain attention seeker accused the authentic leaders of the Yoruba people in the PDP “of being too old and irrelevant simply because they are insisting that the PDP should be honorable and sincere in its zoning of party offices.

    “It is quite sickening and sad when a man who ought to be protecting and defending the interests of the Yoruba people is out there openly vilifying and savaging those who have labored and worked hard to promote the dignity of our people.”

    Stressing that Fayose has committed a cultural treason, Akitoye-Rhodes said: “He is like the proverbial aberrant character that is using the left hand to describe his father’s house. The Yoruba people have a name for such a person.”

    The don said the “Lagos Collectives” will resist any attempt to put Southwest PDP leaders in bad light.

    He said it is worrisome that the leaders who had protected Fayose against the ravages of the federal might have become laughing stocks in the hand of an ingrate.

    Akitoye-Rhodes added: “Fayose should remember that the Yoruba elders he is now abusing are people of profound integrity and incredible moral compass whose relevance are well established.

    “Fayose will soon fade away with his imbecilic antics and mindlessness, our leaders remain in indisputable honour and vigorous relevance.”