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Tag: Fayose

  • Fayose: state of emergency won’t work in Rivers, Ekiti

    Fayose: state of emergency won’t work in Rivers, Ekiti

    EKITI State Governor Ayo Fayose has said that declaring a state of emergency will not work in Rivers and Ekiti states.

    The governor was reacting to speculations that the Federal Government might impose state of emergency in the states.

    He addressed State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on the sideline of the National Economic Council (NEC) retreat.

    Fayose said he had been waiting for President Muhammadu Buhari to declare state of emergency in Ekiti State.

    Stressing that power has gone back to the people, the governor urged political leaders to beware of the actions they take in office, which, he said, might hunt them in the future.

    On possible declaration of state of emergency in Rivers, Fayose said: “They have been insinuating that too in Ekiti. We have been waiting for them. Power has gone beyond the leaders; power has gone back to the people. There are certain things leaders will do today, you will eat it tomorrow.

    “You want to declare a state of emergency? Declare it. We will tell you that the state of emergency will not work. This country belongs to all of us.”

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, at the weekend, said some people were creating problems in his state to make the Federal Government impose a state of emergency.

    The governor said such ploy would not work because the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was more popular in the state.

    The Department of State Security (DSS) recently raided the Ekiti State House of Assembly, where it reportedly arrested eight lawmakers. One of them is being detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Fayose condemned the weekend’s National Assembly and State House of Assembly rerun elections in Rivers State because of what he called their militarisation.

    He described the situation in Rivers as a service of ego among some individuals, who, he said, believed they have the control of the Federal Government.

    On the Ekiti lawmaker’s detained by the EFCC, the governor said the anti-graft agency was trampling on the rights of Nigerians.

  • State of emergency won’t work in Rivers, Ekiti – Fayose

    Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose on Monday said that declaring State of Emergency won’t work in Rivers and Ekiti state.

    He reacted to speculations of federal government’s contemplation to impose state of emergency on the two states while speaking with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Fayose was in Abuja to attend the National Economic Council (NEC) retreat on the economy in the State House.

    According to him, he has been waiting for President Muhammadu Buhari to declare state of emergency in Ekiti.

    Stressing that power has gone back to the people; he urged leaders to beware of the actions they take in office as they may hunt them in the future.

    On the question concerning possible declaration of state of emergency in Rivers, he said: “They have been insinuating that too in Ekiti. We have been waiting for them. Power has gone beyond the leaders; power has gone back to the people.

    “There are certain things leaders will do today, you will eat it tomorrow.

    “You want to declare state of emergency, declare it and we will tell you that the state of emergency will not work too. This country belongs to all of us.” He added

    Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State had also over the weekend alleged that some people were creating problems in his state to make the federal government to impose a state of emergency in the state.

    Wike had said that such ploy would not work because the PDP was more popular in the state.

    The Department of State Security (DSS) recently raided the Ekiti State House of Assembly where they were reported to have arrested eight lawmakers while one of the lawmakers is being detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Fayose condemned the weekend’s National Assembly and State House of Assembly re-elections especially because of what he said was their militarization.

    He described the situation in Rivers as a service of ego of some individuals who believed they have control on the federal government.

    He said: “I want to condemn the election in Rivers State. I want to condemn the militarization.

    “Like I said to some people yesterday, if say Ekiti election nobody was slapped, nobody died, the person defeated congratulated the winner; do we now call this Rivers election Rivers of Bloodgate?

    “Because for a peaceful election in Ekiti and this in Rivers, the military has got no business in our election.

    “Now, I want to say that if you watch the trend, PDP has always won all the elections after the annulment. Which means what happened in Rivers is just a service of ego of some individuals who believed they have Nigeria in their pockets, they can call the president at will to deploy the military and it’s unfortunate that somebody would allow the military to kill his own people.

    “I strongly condemn the elections in Rivers and charge that we sustain the legacy of transparent elections.

    “For me in Ekiti, we learned from that and we are prepared. We prepare for election everyday and we are fully prepared.”

    On the Ekiti lawmaker detained by the EFCC, the governor said that the anti-graft body was trampling on the rights of citizens.

    “And for the people detained in EFCC, it shows the rascality of the agency of government to the federal government to look away and allow innocent Nigerians’ rights to be taken away. I condemn it,” he stated.

  • APC blasts Fayose, aides over ‘dead’ lawmaker controversy

    APC blasts Fayose, aides over ‘dead’ lawmaker controversy

    The Ekiti State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed Governor Ayo Fayose and his aides for allegedly employing lies and falsehood to create tension and divert attention from alleged crimes against the constitution and the people.

    The party said the claim of the Fayose administration that the lawmaker representing Efon, Afolabi Akanni, has died in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) was an attempt to blackmail the Federal Government.

    In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the APC said three other lawmakers declared “missing” by the House of Assembly are hiding in Fayose’s home in Afao-Ekiti.

    The APC said the recent claim by Fayose’s men that DSS officers invaded the House of Assembly “was one in the series of the governor’s shameless lies to set Nigerians against the security agency.”

    According to the party, this is even after security report and workers of the Assembly had said “there was no invasion and shooting anywhere”.

    “The spreading of the rumour of Akanni’s death bore the mark of usual blackmail stunts by the governor to create tension among the people to cause mayhem.

    ”This is to divert attention from his alleged criminal acts, including court invasion to beat up a judge, attacks on the opposition and criminal manipulation of electoral process that gave him victory.”

    Olatunbosun urged Nigerians not to see Fayose’s behaviour as a standard conduct among Ekiti people.

    “The governor’s special behaviour is the price of electing ‘unserious people’ into honourable positions of authority.”

  • What does Fayose want?

    What does Fayose want?

    His survival instinct appears permanently activated

    Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state is an enigma and enfant terrible. He is loquacious, audacious, vexatious, and irascible. He is a man of many controversies. In the popular Yoruba saying, he is a man you must not meet but who, unfortunately, you cannot avoid; this is the proverbial “oniyangi” (someone carrying sand on his head) that the man carrying a pot of palm oil must do all things possible to avoid. Controversies not only surround Fayose, his second nature is controversy. There is controversy about his name – whether it is Fayose or Oluwayose. Controversies surround his relationship with family members. I am not even sure whether controversies do not surround his date, place, and circumstances of birth. Controversies trail his relationship with his wife – whether he pummels her or not. In his first stint as governor, it was controversy all the way: How he emerged as candidate was controversial; no less so how he became governor. In office, it was one controversy after another: Whether he slapped the deputy governor and seized her phone; whether he stripped some Obas; his poultry project of controversy was said by then President Olusegun Obasanjo, himself an accomplished poultry farmer, as one of the wonders of the modern world; and controversies still trail his stewardship as governor – whether or not he stole Ekiti blind. He has a date with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the law courts.

    Fayose’s second coming as governor has been no less controversial. Before then, his defection from one party to another had all been trailed by controversies – from PDP to Labour to AC and back to PDP. How he won the PDP primaries over and above the head of the poll’s favourite, Dayo Adeyeye, is controversial. How he went on to “trounce” incumbent governor Fayemi remains controversial. Revelations of how PDP Federal power mobilised state resources and lined state institutions, including the military, behind Fayose are all in the public domain.

    Since his second coming, it has also been controversies all the way. Fayose’s pledge during the campaigns that he was a changed person was, obviously, meant only for the elections and the unwary. The man remains his old self – controversy personified. Did he or did he not instruct or supervise the beating up of state judges? Did he or did he not chase away majority members of the state House of Assembly, causing five or six members to override the majority 19 members? One day he announces the payment of salaries to hapless Ekiti workers; as the alert sounds and the workers troop to the banks, the salaries are silently and secretly withdrawn to the consternation of everyone but Fayose himself! Nigerians will not forget in a hurry how Fayose’s aircraft overshot the tarmac in his truculent opposition to Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential ambition on the APC ticket.

    Fayose did his best to stop Nigerians voting Buhari into office. He said the man was sick and would not last the distance. He said he trailed and traced him to a hospital in London. He said the man, at 73, was senile; he went even to the ridiculous extent of mimicking how his own mother and Buhari’s age-mate, at 74, wastes precious time to “boot” like Pentium 1 computer! He said Buhari was analogue whereas the modern age is digital. Ultimately, Nigerians saw through his blackmail; rejected his unsolicited-for advice and voted Buhari into office.

    Once Fayose saw this, he was the first PDP notable, after the then weather-beaten President Goodluck Jonathan, to congratulate Buhari and declare his loyalty! He said politics was over with the election and governance must begin apace. But not for long! Fayose soon returned to the Bastilles, as it were, harassing the new president and buffeting him on all sides. He has cried more than the bereaved and been more Catholic than the Pope. Fayose is not the PDP chairman or any other ranking PDP official but he is better known than any of these in his “defence” of the fallen party. He has become the voice, mouth-piece, spokesperson, defender, and conscience of the party, all rolled into one. In this, he has pushed aside Governor Segun Mimiko of Ondo State, who is the official chairperson of PDP governors. He has also torpedoed Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP. Fayose has successfully installed himself a one-man Riot Squad, waging the battles of PDP on all fronts. His state is cash-strapped and does not even command 10 percent of the resources of some PDP states like Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, and Rivers; yet, Fayose committed so much resources of his state in provocative advertisements lambasting Buhari/APC. Remember how the late MKO Abiola described the then Air Force chief, Nura Imam, and his men as “mad dogs”?

    But what does Fayose want? A man cannot take up all of these troubles for nothing. To be sure, Fayose is smart, damn smart. He is cold-blooded and rigorously calculating. He cannot, therefore, be on charity. According to some reports, the prophets who prophesied his return to office also prophesied he may not last his term. To last his term was why he chased out the majority Ekiti State legislators for fear they could impeach him. To last his term is why, when his hands of fellowship were spurned by Buhari/APC, he chose to fight to the finish. It is a fight for survival but couched in the esoteric language of defence of democratic ethos and the rights/freedom/liberties of citizens. With the mountains of problems that Fayose faces, the only way he can survive his second stint is, if he diverts attention from himself to an outside enemy. That way, he can always rally Ekiti behind himself to face the external foes. It was ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi. Now, it is Buhari/APC. Unfortunately, the Department of State Security has been dumb enough to play into Fayose’s hands. If no external pressure is mounted on Fayose, the heat from within is enough to hang him out to dry in no time.

    – Bolawole writes from turnpot@gmail.com (0807 552 5533)

     

    TUNJI ADEGBOYEGA

    BACK SOON.

     

  • Fayose rewards teacher who returned N101,000 

    Fayose rewards teacher who returned N101,000 

    A teacher, Mrs. Ayodele Grace, yesterday returned N101,000 to the coffers of Ekiti State Government, which was wrongly paid to her as rural and core subject allowance.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Grace, who teaches in Ikere-Ekiti, was wrongly credited with the money meant for those teaching in rural schools and those taking core subjects in public secondary schools.

    A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, Grace sent a text message to the governor when she got the alert from her bank, and told the governor she was not entitled to the allowance.

    The elated Fayose, who thereafter hosted Grace and her husband in his office as mark of appreciation, was said to have told the teacher that he was surprised at her level of honesty.

    “After the first text message, she sent me another reminder that the money was still in her account and that she did not know how to get it returned to government’s coffers.

    “I decided to call her ýto thank her for her honest act; I promised to reward her with N50,000, but I was again surprised when she said she would not take the monetary reward.

    “I asked her what she wanted and she said her husband was unemployed and would not mind if I could assist in that area.

    “This is the virtue of a good woman and wife. I decided then that her husband will be employed by the government.

    “This woman should be celebrated. The other time some teachers were accused of using their students as child labourers, we cried out, so when a teacher has done something commendable too we must let the world know that,” Fayose was quoted as saying.

    According to the statement, the  Head of Service was immediately mandated by the governor to perfect the employment papers of Grace’s husband.

    “He has been employed by the government with immediate effect. I am using this medium to call on other teachers, who might haveý been wrongly credited with allowances, to come out and return same to the government.”

  • Fayose rewards teacher who returned N101,000 

    • Gives job to husband

    A school teacher, Mrs. Ayodele Grace,on Wednesday returned to the coffers of Ekiti State Government, the sum of N101,000 wrongly paid to her, as rural and core subject allowance.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Grace, who teaches in Ikere-Ekiti, was wrongly credited with the money meant for those teaching in rural schools and those taking core subjects in public secondary schools.

    According to a press statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Idowu Adelusi, Grace sent a text message to the governor when she got the alert from her bank, and told the governor she was not entitled to the allowance.

    The elated Fayose, who thereafter hosted Grace and her husband in his office as mark of appreciation, was said to have told the teacher that he was surprised at her level of honesty.

    “After the first text message, she sent me another reminder that the money was still in her account and that she did not know how to get it returned to government’s coffers.

    “I decided to call her ‎to thank her for her honest act; I promised to reward her with N50,000, but I was again surprised when she said she would not take the monetary reward.

    “I asked her what she wanted and she said her husband was unemployed and would not mind if I could assist in that area.

    “This is the virtue of a good woman and wife. I decided then that her husband will be given employment by the state government.

    “This woman should be celebrated. The other time some teachers were accused of using their students as child labourers, we cried out, so when a teacher has done something commendable too we must let the world know that,” Fayose was quoted as saying.

    According to the statement, the state’s Head of Service was immediately mandated by the governor to perfect the employment papers of Grace’s husband.

    “He has been given employment by the state government with immediate effect.

    “I am using this medium to call on other teachers, who might have‎ been wrongly credited with allowances, to come out and return same to the government.’

  • Ekiti PDP crisis deepens as Fayose’s agents disrupt elders’ meeting

    Ekiti PDP crisis deepens as Fayose’s agents disrupt elders’ meeting

    • More members defect to APC

    More crises have hit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State as a meeting summoned by the party’s elders to save the party from collapse was allegedly disrupted by agents of Governor Ayo Fayose on Friday.

    The meeting, which was hosted by the Chairman of Ekiti PDP Elders’ Committee, Senator Clement Awoyelu, at his residence in Ekute area of Ado Ekiti ,was held to stem the gale of defections of aggrieved party members complaining about the leadership style of Fayose.

    As the meeting was in full swing, Special Adviser to Fayose on Political Matters, Ademola Bello, who allegedly stormed the venue with people suspected to be political thugs, queried Awoyelu’s authority to hold the meeting without the governor’s clearance.

    Bello reportedly told the bemused party elders that Fayose remains the leader of the party in the state and no meeting should be held without obtaining clearance from him.

    Awoyelu, a respected leader of the party, was the pioneer state PDP chairman, a former National Working Committee member, a member of the 5th Senate (2003-2007), during which he served as Deputy Chief Whip, a Board of Trustees member and Chairman of the party’s state Elders’ Forum in which capacity he held the meeting.

    Party elders already seated at the time Fayose’s henchmen invaded Awoyelu’s home included former Deputy Governor, Chief Paul Alabi; former Acting Governor/Speaker of the House of Assembly, Olatunji Odeyemi; former spokesman of Ekiti Council of Elders, Chief Idowu Odeyemi, former Chairman, Emure Local Government, Mrs. Titi Oguntuase and Dr. Jimi Oke.

    The meeting was also attended by 12 serving local government chairmen, members of the state PDP caretaker committee, 14 chairmen of local government chapters of the party, among others.

    All council chairmen and party state caretaker executive members fled the meeting venue for fear of being attacked by the suspected thugs.

    A source told our reporter on Saturday that Awoyelu felt embarrassed by Bello’s effrontery to disrupt elders’ meeting allegedly acting on Fayose’s authority.

    The source quoted Awoyelu as saying: “I am the pioneer PDP state Chairman, former NWC member, former Senator and former Senate Deputy Chief Whip, which qualifies me to be in the national caucus and an eight-year BOT member.

    “The meeting was summoned in my capacity as the Elders’ Committee Chairman and also Chairman of Elders’ Forum.”

    But Bello reportedly fired back: “Henceforth, no meeting should hold in Ekiti without the clearance from Mr. Governor. Which meeting are you holding here? Council chairmen who came here would be sanctioned and (party) caretaker committee present will be sanctioned as well.”

    Meanwhile, PDP has lost more members to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state at a rally held in Igede Ekiti, the council headquarters.

    The leaders of the defectors, Chief Femi Akomolafe, Ayo Famutimi and Ojo Ilesanmi, while speaking with newsmen decried the draconian leadership of Fayose and his failure to fulfil some of the pledges he made during his electioneering campaign.

    The defectors further stressed that they defected from PDP to APC because the APC and the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari have been delivering better dividends of democracy to Nigerians through its anti-corruption campaign.

  • Fayose plans solidarity rallies

    Fayose plans solidarity rallies

    Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose is planning a massive fight back against the crackdown on his administration by the Department of State Services (DSS), which is investigating alleged crimes committed by some lawmakers and other officials.

    Our reporter gathered that some senior government officials and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been meeting on strategies to neutralise the  DSS probe.

    A Government House source said yesterday that one of the plans on the cards is what he called “massive mobilisation” of interest groups, such as trade unions, artisans’ bodies, transport unions, youth bodies and women organisations to drum support for Fayose.

    The source explained that various groups would embark on solidarity rallies in Ado-Ekiti and other parts of the state in support of Fayose.

    He spoke of plans to involve traditional rulers and other leaders of thought sympathetic to Fayose to appeal to the Federal Government to prevail on DSS and other agencies to drop their “onslaught” against him.

    An umbrella support group for Fayose known as “Fayose Solidarity Forum” has been floated to be at the vanguard of canvassing support and win public sympathy for the embattled governor.

    The source said: “The Fayose Solidarity Forum (FSF) will be launched on March 21 and the occasion will be used to send a strong message that Osoko is still popular in Ekiti.

    “The part one of the strategy is already working as the lawmakers have succeeded in blackmailing the DSS and part two has succeeded, with Fayose succeeding in working on the PDP members in the National Assembly to speak against the arrest and detention.

    “Part three of the strategy will be massive solidarity rallies and demonstrations in support of Fayose and the  lawmakers. Watch out for these anytime from next week.”

    The Nation learnt that FSF will incorporate  trade union groups and local government workers.

    The state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of pencilling down some of its lawmakers and other government officials for arrest.

  • ‘This is coup against Fayose’

    ‘This is coup against Fayose’

    The Ekiti State Executive Council has accused the Federal Government of plotting to topple the Ayo Fayose administration.

    The council, at a meeting yesterday, urged all lovers of democracy to intervene and save Ekiti State from siege.

    This was conveyed in a statement by Deputy Governor Kolapo Olusola and 19 others.

    They described the Department of State Services (DSS) action as political vendetta against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The council described the arrest and detention of the government officials as a “flagrant breach” of Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution.

    The statement reads: “None of the stated functionaries have been accused of any crime whatsoever, let alone those bordering on  state security.

    “The spate of arrests of principal functionaries of government will appear irregular, unjust , unwholesome and politically motivated to intimidate governor Fayose who has become the lone voice of the opposition .

    “The current intimidation is an orchestrated plot to overthrow the legitimate government of Ekiti State, having failed to achieve destabilisation agenda.”

  • Apc to Fayose: we’ll defend our members

    Apc to Fayose: we’ll defend our members

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has warned Governor Fayose that it would defend its members, against any planned attack.

    The party warned the governor that there will be “a stiff resistance on the streets to defend APC members with all strength that our members can muster”.

    In a petition by the State Secretary, Paul Omotoso, to the Commissioner of Police, Etop James and Department of State Services (DSS) State Director, Andrew Iorkya, entitled: “Complaint On Governor Ayodele Fayose’s Planned Mass Violence in Ekiti State”, the party said it was aware of clandestine plots by the governor to cause massive violent protest against DSS and APC members.

    “Our complaint is not without foundation against the backdrop of the governor’s penchant for using state radio and television stations through inciting press releases to instigate public anger.

    “On Monday, a member of the House of Assembly, Gboyega Aribisogan, was on Progress FM, inciting people and threatening to invade DSS office,” Omotoso said.

    He added that “Fayose began his onslaught on the APC on Monday when his agents destroyed our gate and began intimidating members”.

    “We have information that the governor has started mobilising Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) local chapters  on plans to storm the DSS office to protest the arrest of some lawmakers.

    “We also have it on good authority that the governor plans to use militants who will work with local thugs to attack APC members in their homes and going by the recent wave of killings in Rivers State, we cannot sit and gloss over this evil plan.

    “Knowing and understanding the violent nature of Governor Fayose, the APC members will have no choice than to employ self-defence to ensure security and safety of our members,” he concluded.