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Tag: Kayode Fayemi

  • Fayemi’s return

    When on June 15, 2014, about a week to the then approaching governorship election in Ekiti State (billed for June 21, 2014), I called on Ekiti people to #BringbackFayemi, little did I know that that call would count for nothing. Little did I know that the people had made up their minds on what to do. At least that was the situation until the morning of June 21, Election Day, when I started receiving anonymous calls on phone by people who claimed to be speaking from Ekiti. I vividly remember one of them said that Ekiti people appeared set to take one of the most (?) decisions of their lives, and they knew it; but nonetheless were bent on treading that path. I received a few more such calls, with the people sympathising with, and telling me that they knew I was not one of the regular visitors to their state but just happened to be in love with what the then Governor Kayode Fayemi was doing. Mind you, they too acknowledged that Fayemi performed.

    When, on the day after the election I saw the picture of the governor (I think in The Guardian) on the queue when he was about to vote the previous day, I saw apprehension all over his face. Apparently, he must have heard some of the things I heard and that was enough to put the fear of God in a man who hitherto thought that election was all about performance. Fayemi had cause to worry then not because he did not perform; but because of the enormous resources deployed by the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ‘capture’, as it were, Ekiti State from him and his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC)).  That was why I laughed whenever any of the PDP stalwarts, including Nyesom Wike of Rivers State (who literally stepped on corpses of electoral victims to Government House in Port Harcourt) was complaining of militarisation of Ekiti State in the July 14, 2018 governorship election. Theirs was like the case of a hangman who would not want anyone to dangle a sword over his own child’s head.

    Anyway, given what was later to be in the public domain about alleged Fayemi’s haughtiness and how it played a crucial role in the 2014 governorship election in the state, it was obvious to me that Fayemi could still have lost that poll; but not by the wide margin that Fayose was credited to have defeated him. If anything, the then PDP government at the centre itself knew that if it was about performance, Fayemi would not have been so easily uprooted. In other words, even the PDP was unsure of itself given Fayemi’s impressive delivery of democratic dividend to Ekiti people, hence its stalwarts’ going beyond the ordinary to intimidate Fayemi out of office and putting his supporters asunder.

    I crave your indulgence to quote copiously from my June 15, 2014 piece because, by and large, many aspects of that write-up are still relevant, even today. After the years of the locust, the south west has rediscovered its lost compass; it has woken up from its slumber to remember that the region used to be the pace setter in terms of development in the country. It is instructive that the governors of most states in the region know that they are like cows without tails that are at the mercy of God to ward off flies, unlike their PDP counterparts that look up to the Federal Government for crutches at election time. Even if that explains the efforts being made by governors in the region, particularly in Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Lagos states, including even Edo in the south south to leave enviable legacies that they would be proud of, it is something. What matters is that progress is being made in these states.I was in Ekiti about five years ago, and I was there again in December, last year. What I saw was amazing. It is unimaginable that anyone would have been able to make such a difference in less than four years, especially when it is realised that the state is not among those awash with petro-dollars. What are we talking about? Is it Fayemi’s social welfare grant of N5,000 to every old citizen in the state? This is commendable in a country where pensioners are left to their own device. And the uncommon transformation of the Ikogosi Warm Springs? Roads, especially intra-state roads in Ekiti are in good condition such that it takes only about one hour to travel from the state capital to anywhere in the state. Fayemi’s covenant with Ekiti people is encapsulated in his eight-point agenda which he has been pursuing diligently.  “My eight-point agenda would be pursued with vigour and life would be more abundant for our people. Governance shall not only be transparent and accountable but the good of our people would be the template,” the governor said during his inauguration in 2010. He has largely kept faith with that promise.

    Without doubt, those who chose Ayo Fayose (PDP) to contest against Fayemi either wanted the PDP to fail in the state ab initio or are relying on something else to ‘win’ the election.  This was the same Fayose who established a poultry project worth over N1billion as governor in the state which Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (also a PDP president then) was shocked the usual smell associated with poultries was missing in Fayose’s when he visited the place! As a farmer, Chief Obasanjo should know and he did know that the poultry was a ruse. Moreover, Fayose has all manner of allegations hanging on his neck like a necklace of iron, and it is only a party suffering from an acute shortage of good men that could have fielded such a candidate and expect to win an election.

    All said, what people are pleading for is that the June 21 election in Ekiti State be free and fair. No more, no less. And that cannot be a misguided plea. Those who are relying on wars and chariots or crutches from the Federal Government or the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the election are advised to go dust up their history books. A word is enough for the wise.

    The 2014 governorship in the state has come and gone; so is the 2018 edition. Whilst Fayose coasted to victory in the former (during which Ekiti State was heavily militarised in the real sense of the word), Fayemi reclaimed his position following his victory in the July 14, 2018 governorship election. So, barring the unforeseen, Fayemi , the APC governorship candidate in the election will be sworn in on October 16, 2018.

    But, beyond all of this is the lesson that Fayemi must have learnt by now, especially about politics and human psychology. Ekiti has shown that performance alone is not enough to take a governor to the Promised Land when seeking reelection. This is regrettable, though, coming from Ekiti that many of us had since our childhood years regarded as home to many erudite professors – Prof Aluko, Prof’ Igun’, Prof ‘Odidere’ (as we sarcastically used to say when discussing Ekiti State then). It is sad that it is from that same state that incredible stories are now being told about how the people are, like women, now led by toys, apologies (I think) to Napoleon Bonaparte. Under the outgoing governor, the state succeeded in adding a concept to our political lexicon: ‘stomach infrastructure’. Except that the idea sold like hot cake in the ‘Fountain of knowledge’, and for the negative reasons, the concept is akin to what Metternich described as ‘high sounding nothing’.

    Moreover, Fayemi should not forget the Dayo Adeyeyes, Olusegun Onis and others who made his victory possible. Their votes here and there made the critical difference.

    I do not expect Fayemi to go and be frying gari in some remote parts of the state as proof of his love for Ekiti people. But then, he should not be in the other room when he should be tending to issues affecting market women in the state. The point is; Ekiti is not Lagos. It is not oil-rich Rivers or Bayelsa. Ekiti is a predominantly civil servant state. Although, if you ask me, I do not know what this is supposed to mean. There is no state that is not sufficiently blessed, especially in the south west. It is Fayemi’s business to see how much of this narrative he can change in the next four years.

    And time is not on his side. He should start to assemble his team immediately if he has not done that. Also, there is no room for witch-hunting, beyond the routine business of accountability and transparency. He should realise that Fayose remains a potent politician in the state given the little margin of about 20,000 votes that he nailed Fayose with. If Fayemi succeeds in handling the affairs of state well, it is only a matter of time for Ekiti people to realise that they had been conned under the Fayose administration. But if he does otherwise, then he would give them the opportunity of remembering, albeit nostalgically, the Fayose years and to earnestly yearn for his return, even if by proxy.

    The ball is in Fayemi’s court.

  • The second coming of Kayode Fayemi and the challenge of “stomach infrastructure” in its many manifestations, open and not so open

    Of the many fascinating jokes, tales and fables in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, my favorite pertains to – stomach infrastructure. Here it is. We are at the feast marking the last act in the funeral ceremonies for a departed elder, a man of great substance when he was alive. Since the death of such a personage is considered, not a sorrowful event but a matter for joyous celebration, there is much to eat and drink at this ceremony that takes place early in the plot of the novel. Never one to miss an opportunity for feasting and merriment, Okonkwo’s (the protagonist of the novel) father, Unoka, is visibly, merrily and jocosely present at this social wake.

    It is in this context, in this mood that he gives the sardonic joke which I regard as a vintage expression of stomach infrastructure. Speaking to another elder, Unoka remarks casually that at funerals, the only part of the dead man or woman that interests him, the only part of the body that he looks at very closely, is the mouth. As expected, this comment startles the elder to whom it is addressed. To the question why he finds the mouth of the departed the main point of his interest, Unoka declares that the mouth is only useful when one is alive, that once one has died, it is no longer possible to eat, to consume. For this reason, Unoka concludes his grotesque narrative by declaring that in looking closely at the mouth of a deceased person, he is reminding himself, Unoka, to eat as much as he can while still alive because on one fateful day, death will end the possibility of eating forever.

    One could easily and justifiably say that this sardonic philosophy of eating as much as one can while one is alive is nothing but the tongue-in-cheek self-justification of a hedonist. In other words, although Unoka is a poor and unsuccessful man – in sharp contrast to his son, Okonkwo – what he says of the mouth and eating could as well have been said by a very rich man who loves food and drinks and all the god things of life. But, pointedly, Unoka is not a rich man; he is not a successful man; he is a man that is not only perpetually indebted to many creditors, he is famous for using his considerable gift of eloquence and wit to frustrate the attempts of his creditors to make him pay off his debts. For this reason, what he says about eating as much as one can eat while still alive is the “philosophy”, the worldview of a person on whom life circumstances have imposed this grotesque edification of eating as the be-all and end-all of life. What is this if not stomach infrastructure at its most unvarnished and elemental?

    But, please note that in his society and time, Unoka is one man among many other men. Indeed, Achebe makes much of this fact: Unoka is almost like no other man in his society, a society that places great value in hard work, self-reliance and what one achieves by oneself as distinguished from what one inherits from one’s parents and forbears. In other words, in the society, time and place depicted in Things Fall Apart, Unoka’s “stomach infrastructure” is considered an aberration, not the norm. Yes, Achebe makes Unoka a very sympathetic character: he is a gifted flutist, a brilliant raconteur and a spinner of delightful yarns. When they take him to the “evil bush” to die completely alone and sequestered from all other men and women after he is stricken by the “swollen disease”, he asks that he be allowed to take his flute with him, meaning that even alone and deathly sick in the wilderness, he will still try to find some joy, some poetry in what remains of his life. But all the same, with regards to his chosen pact with “stomach infrastructure”, he is alone, partly by choice but mostly due to the political economy of his society in which gifted flutists that cannot also be hardworking and successful farmers, hunters and/or warriors have little to validate both their social existence and their individual identities. After all, the society depicted in Things Fall Apart is a pre-capitalist society; markets, traders and even incipient commercialists have emerged, but surplus accumulation is still so minimal that class differentiation, as distinct from social status, is as yet nowhere in sight.

    The point in this long introduction to this essay via our comments on Things Fall Apart is that “stomach infrastructure” takes many forms and has existed for a long time, going back to a time, a political economy in which it was not recognized as a social phenomenon. In that novel, it is “recognized” in only one man who is atypical in the social division of labour in his society. In our time of a full-blown if endlessly wasteful and unregenerate capitalism, those driven to “stomach infrastructure”, by choice and by socio-economic compulsion, are numbered in their millions, in their tens of millions. And although thanks to Ayodele Fayose, Ekiti has come to be known as the “stomach infrastructure state”, the phenomenon exists and is rampant in all the thirty-six states of the federation. For instance, in the governorship elections of Ondo State in November 2016, “stomach infrastructure” through vote-buying by the two main contending political parties, the APC and the PDP, was so rampant that the electorate gave the practice, the phenomenon one of its most cynical but also inventive appellations: “dibo, koo se’be”! A completely literal translation of this expression is, “vote so you can cook your stew”. Expansively, it of course means, “sell your vote and the next meal for you (and your family) is assured”!

    Of course, we know that “stomach infrastructure” is not limited to vote-buying during elections. It extends into post-election governance as a mode of making the electorate, the ruled complicitous in their exploitation and immiseration. Stomach infrastructure even takes place between elections and for this reason, it has penetrated deep into the political culture of our country and many other countries on our continent and other parts of the developing world. As a matter of fact, long before Fayose systematized the phenomenon as an important policy initiative of his rule as governor, “stomach infrastructure” was known and very widely identified in Africanist academic circles as the “politics of the belly”. Indeed, there is a book of that title that has become a classic of postcolonial African political science.

    For me, one of the most intriguing manifestations of “stomach infrastructure” in our country in the last three to four years can be found in the fact that Kayode Fayemi, the man against whom Fayose invoked and entrenched the phenomenon as a policy initiative, this same man, our own Left-leaning Kayode Fayemi, has on some occasions found it expedient to engage in his own observance and practice of “stomach infrastructure”, either through the APC or directly, through the John Kayode Fayemi Leadership Centre in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. For instance, in mid-2016, the JKF Leadership Centre, under its Director, Mr. Abiodun Omoleye, began distributing a long list of food items like rice, salt, sugar, milk, spaghetti, wheat, semolina and gari to many segments of the Ekiti state citizenry. These included civil servants, artisans, nursing mothers, disabled women and men, Okada riders, students and unemployed people, this on a periodic basis. I do not know how long it lasted; however, I do know that Fayemi, through the Director of the Centre that he founded and named for himself, gave an eloquent justification of the practice that deliberately tried to distinguish and distance it from Fayose’s “stomach infrastructure”. Speaking foe Fayemi, Omoleye described what the Centre was doing as a sort of humanitarian relief for the poor and the hungry in a time when the “wind of poverty” was blowing like a storm across Ekiti State. He asserted that it was a moral and spiritual obligation for the wealthy, the more fortunate citizens, to express solidarity with those in society that are less fortunate, especially given the fact that they are in the solid majority of the population. And he explicitly stated that he hoped other fortunate Nigerians would join him to carry out the same sort of humanitarian relief to the poor and the needy. All well and good; but we cannot ignore the fact that by 2016, two years after Fayose defeated him in the 2014 elections, everyone knew that Fayemi was going to contest the elections in 2018. Cynical “stomach infrastructure” refined and retooled as humanitarian solidarity? I leave this to the judgment of the reader!

    On that point, we come to perhaps the most important aspect of this discussion. For this reason, I will go over what is entailed in the issue very carefully. First, I suggest that it is a sort of backhanded homage to Kayode Fayemi that of all the 36 states of the federation, it was in Ekiti State and as a dialectical reaction to his rule that “stomach infrastructure”, a practice of cynical manipulation of the oppressed and the exploited, was first systematized and made a significant addition to the lexicon of political action and analysis in our country. Fayose, the man who carried out this feat, operated on the basis of linking two completely different and separate words and ideas – stomach and infrastructure – together. He did this because among all the executive governors in Nigeria, Fayemi it was who had tried as much as possible to place an emphasis on infrastructures, more specifically, infrastructural development. Definitely, it is debatable how much actual, measurable infrastructural development took place in his first term as Governor, together with how much the cost was. But it is totally undebatable that it was Fayemi, more than any other governor, who tirelessly stated that any state in Nigeria or the developing world cannot, or must not, always spend the lion’s share on recurrent expenditure at the expense of infrastructures and capital projects. He was so insistent on this point that the word “infrastructure” became rather tiresome to the people of Ekiti state, especially as unemployment, poverty and despair did not decrease at all. And it was at that point that the native genius of Fayose linked that tiresome word, “infrastructure” with “stomach”, the word that everyone, the poor especially, was shouting to anyone who could and would listen to them.

    We must move to the concluding section of this piece. Theoretically and practically, one of the worst effects of the advent of “stomach infrastructure” into both the lexicon and the practice of governance in our country is that it has transformed long-term and long-range infrastructural development into the polar opposite of the satisfaction of vital and immediate needs of life. Yes, everybody treats “stomach infrastructure” as a joke, a cynical joke. But it is practiced widely, both openly and covertly and in every state, every region, every locality in the nation. As we have remarked earlier in this essay, Ekiti happens to be its locus of final domestication, thanks to the completely unashamed cynicism and opportunism of Ayodele Fayose who went as far as to appoint a Special Adviser for Special Duties and Stomach Infrastructures! Here, we come to perhaps the single most important issue in this piece. I will bring the essay to its conclusion by giving a brief elaboration of this point.

    The “genius” displayed, the interest generated by the term “stomach infrastructure” seems to be based on a play on words and terms: infrastructure is taken out of where we normally find it and linked with – stomach. But the source of its impact is not merely and only linguistic; more properly, it is socio-economic. In other words, it was because under Kayode Fayemi, the people of Ekiti State were feeling a great, burdensome tension, a contradiction perhaps, between infrastructural development and the demands of keeping body and soul alive and well, it was because of this that Fayose found a niche into which to insert his opportunism, his street-smart politics of the belly. That tension, that contradiction has not disappeared in the four years that Fayose took over from Fayemi. And now that he is coming back, Fayemi will be tested again, I dare say, almost to a breaking point. I am assuming that he has not given up, that he will not give up on finding a sustaining balance between “infrastructure” and “stomach”, between building production capacities for the long haul and satisfying consumption of food, goods and services in the immediate present.

    Ekiti is one of the poorest states in the nation, at least in terms of revenue from the Federation Account; it is first to the last three among the 36 states, Cross River State and Osun State being the only two states behind it. In addition to this, Ekiti is also one of the most highly indebted states in the nation. But in terms of human and natural endowments and resources, it is potentially one of the richest states in the country. If he has learnt the right lessons from the Fayose interregnum, these are factors and forces of production that Fayemi can count on. But he is in the wrong party to bring this about. But that is another story entirely.

    Biodun Jeyifo

    bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

     

  • Fayemi to Fayose: Be ready to account for Ekiti funds

    Ekiti State Governor-elect, Dr  Kayode Fayemi, has said  his decision to probe how the state’s finances were managed when he takes office on October 16 is not a vendetta mission.

    Fayemi said there is need to know why the state government still owes several arrears of workers’ salaries and pensioners’ benefits after receiving three tranches of bailout funds, Paris Club refunds, Budget Support Funds and the secrecy with which the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is shrouded in the last four years.

    He also warned against illegal appointments at the Ekiti State University (EKSU) saying “the ongoing staff upgrade at the university to create vacancies for employment is a subtle means to ensure that Governor Ayodele Fayose’s political agents occupy strategic positions they may not have competences to hold.”

    Fayemi was replying to an allegation by the administration of Governor Ayo Fayose that his plan to probe the management of the state finances, assets and liabilities by outgoing government was a mission of vengeance and vendetta.

    The governor-elect also urged Fayose and his media handlers to accept defeat in good faith after Ekiti people have realized that they had been dealing with a deceitful governor who can no longer fool them.

    In a statement on Saturday by the Director of Media in the Media in the Office of the Governor-elect, Mr. Wole Olujobi, Fayemi urged Fayose to be prepared to prepare for life outside office and answer to various alleged criminal cases hanging on his neck.

    Read Also: Why we’ll probe Fayose – Fayemi

    Fayemi said: “We are not surprised that it is now that Fayose is saying that he is ready to open the state’s books for probe and we wonder why he had refused to let Ekiti people know the state’s IGR figures in about four years while nobody knew how he spent budget support facility, Paris Club refunds and bailout cash.

    “Rather than continue to brag shamelessly and issue tissues of lies as press releases as he has been doing in the last four years, Fayose should bury his head in shame for misusing the opportunity of redeeming his battered image.

    “Fayose is one of the luckiest men in history, who has a second chance to redeem himself but he blew it because of greed, arrogance and covetousness.

    “We are also surprised that a beneficiary of 2014 poll fraud through criminal manipulation of Federal resources is the one now describing the free and fair election that produced Fayemi as flawed after Ekiti people went to poll to take their destiny in their hands by voting for Fayemi who can be trusted with power and resources of the state unlike Fayose who secretly collected N117b loans but refused to pay workers their salaries and pensioners’ entitlements.

    “We advise Fayose to brace up for life after government, especially to render accounts of his stewardship to Ekiti people in the last four years and must also be prepared to defend himself over a plethora of criminal cases hanging on his neck.”

    He advised Fayose to accept defeat and be prepared to face the law over his alleged infractions against the law while he was governor instead of launching blackmail against the plan to probe him. Fayemi cautioned EKSU Vice Chancellor, Prof Samuel Oye Bandele, against pandering to the preferences of the governor in the running of the university.

    He added: “We are aware of the plot to use staff upgrade to create hundreds of vacancies for Fayose’s agents for employment in the face of the dwindling economic fortunes of the university that cannot pay staff salary regularly and where infrastructure has decayed while subvention and capital grants have not been paid for more than a year.

    “We know that the strategy is to create more problems for the incoming administration, more so that the decision to employ more hands was taken after the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lost the last governorship election to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “The manner of the ill-motivated appointments lacks merit, coming at the eclipse of Fayose’s administration after failing to recruit staff in the last three years during which time staff were not motivated and infrastructure left to rot away.”

  • Make payment of salaries and pensions your first priority, NLC tells Fayemi

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asked Ekiti governor elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi to pay particular attention to the payment of salaries and pension of the people of the state immediately he is sworn in saying the election that brought him in was a vote of no confidence on the current government in the state.

    In a congratulatory letter to the governor elect, dated 20th July, 2018 and signed by the President of Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, the NLC also asked the governor elect not to waste energy on needless probes of the past government, but pay attention to other compelling needs of the people of the state.

    Wabba said the Labour movement “believes that the non-payment of workers salary and pension by the outgoing government was enough reason for the vote of no confidence by the people. We are confident that one of your first executive actions once sworn into office would be to clear the backlog of salaries and pension owed Ekiti workers.

    “There are other compelling needs of Ekiti people on the basis of which they will look up to you. They shall be acting within their civic rights and responsibility if and when they hold you accountable to your promises. Our responsibility to your government would be no less. We therefore urge you to give your utmost, your very best.”

    Read Also: I’ll probe Fayose’s administration, says Fayemi

    He said further that “Your election, no doubt, is a reflection of the popular wishes of the people and their appreciation of the work you started. Few, if any, suffered the level of government-engineered vilification and witch-hunt aimed at frustrating your bid for a second term in office.

    “That you won this election in spite of these obstacles or frustration should be a source of joy and pride to you and your esteemed supporters.

    “However, we advise that this victory be not pay back time, and neither should it be seen or treated as one but as an opportunity to complete the work started by you in your first tenure. Most importantly, we believe, it will avail you a rare chance to render higher and greater service to the people of Ekiti State who have kept faith with you in spite of everything.

  • ‘Ondo, Ekiti political, cultural ties remain solid’

    The cultural and political affinity between Ondo and Ekiti States will always be fortified.

    The Ondo State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Ade Adetimehin made the observation at the weekend when he received a delegation of APC leaders from Ekiti State, who were on a thank-you visit, and led by the State Chairman, Chief Jide Awe.

    According to a statement by the party’s spokesman, Alex Kalejaye ,the chairman noted that the support and efforts of Ondo State APC in Ekiti, during the campaigns, were informed by what the State chapter benefited from Ekiti, particularly,  the governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, in the past.

    He said “In 2012, Fayemi was at the forefront of our governorship campaigns here in Ondo State. Though we lost that election but he was not deterred. Again in 2016, he presented himself a pillar to lean on till we emerged victorious”

    Read Also: 10 docked for vote buying in Ekiti

    Speaking earlier, Chief Awe, thanked leaders and all organs of the party in Ondo State, for what he termed massive support and encouragement given to them during their electioneering campaigns.

    Awe said that though the Ekiti office was still basking in the euphoria of the electoral victory, the leaders considered it expedient to offer timely appreciation.

    Awe said: “We are full of appreciation to the leaders and every member of APC in Ondo State for their support and encouragement. It is difficult to go to individuals for this, we are therefore using this corporate office as a means of contact to all members.

    “It will be needless counting the number of ways through which you rendered assistance for us to get victory at the just concluded gubernatorial polls in our State.”

  • Make employment, workers’ welfare your priorities, APC tells Fayemi

    Youths under the aegis of the APC in the South-south geo-political zone have advised the newly governor-elect of  Ekiti, Dr Kayode Fayemi, to make employment generation and workers’ welfare his priorities.

    Mr Gabriel Idunseri, the youths’ leade stated this in a statement he signed and made available to newsmen in Benin-City on Friday.

    He thanked the APC National Chairman, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, whom he said his emergence contributed to the success of the party in Ekiti.

    According to him, Ekiti victory is a pointer to the fact that the people had for long missed the Ekiti governor-elect.

    He said that he would like to advise Fayemi to use his victory to demonstrate that its administration would a responsible government by paying the workers’ salaries as and when due.

    Read Also: I will not disappoint Ekiti people – Fayemi

    “It is my humble wish to the governor-elect to rekindle his desires to arrest the army of youths in the state through massive employment and empowerment.

    “He should also priorotise the payment of the state workers’ salaries as soon as he hits the ground running.

    “This is because the outcome of this election is a prelude to the victory awaiting our great party come 2019 general election.”

    Idunresi said with the experience in Ekiti, the party was ready to win more states in the South-south zone.

    “This victory, coupled with the doggedness of Ekiti youths, should be seen as a wakeup call to all the APC youths in the South – south zone.

    “With this style of doggedness and determination, all other states in the South–south zone currently being controlled by the opposition would be won by the APC in the next general election,” he said.

    Idonseri also advised those that were dissatisfied by the outcome of the election to challenge it through legitimate means.

    Fayemi had on Saturday, July 14, defeated the candidate of the People’s Party (PDP), Prof. Olusola Kolapo, in the governorship poll.

    The Chief Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, declared the APC candidate, Fayemi, the winner of the election after securing 197,459 votes.

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate and current Deputy Governor of Ekiti, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, scored 178,121 votes.

    The election in which 35 candidates representing the various political parties contested was held in 2,195 polling units spread across 177 wards in the 16 local government areas of Ekiti.

     

    NAN

  • I will not disappoint Ekiti people – Fayemi

    Ekiti State Governor-elect Dr Kayode Fayemi has promised not to disappoint the people of the state who gave him the mandate in Saturday’s governorship election.

    Fayemi made the promise on Wednesday shortly after he was presented with the Certificate of Return as the governor-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    National Commissioner in charge of Oyo, Ekiti and Osun States, PrinceAdedeji Soyebi, presented Fayemi with the Certificate of Return at a
    ceremony held at state INEC Headquarters, New Iyin Road, Ado-Ekiti.

    Deputy Governor-elect Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi also received his Certificate of Return at the event. Fayemi and Egbeyemi were joined by their wives, Bisi and Margaret, respectively.

    Other dignitaries who witnessed the presentation are Chairman, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, Senator Fatimat Raji Rasaki; state APC Chairman, Chief Olajide Awe; Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bello Ahmed; State Director of DSS, Mrs. Promise Iheanacho; Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr. Solomon Iyamu and heads of federal agencies in the state.

    The certificates presented to Fayemi and Egbeyemi were signed by INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. The governor-elect and the deputy governor-elect also signed the documents.

    APC leaders and members chanted their party slogan: “APC Change! APC Change!! APC Change!!! as Fayemi collected his certificate at 11.30
    am.

    Speaking after he was presented with the document which authenticates his status as governor-elect, Fayemi said the people of Ekiti State
    will enjoy the benefit of good governance as from October 16 when he takes over the reins of power.

    The governor-elect commended the electoral agency for doing what he described as an “excellent job” of conducting the governorship poll.

    Contrary to the claim of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Fayemi affirmed that the election which returned him as winner was
    “seamless, free, fair, credible and violence-free.”

    There was a massive security build-up along New Iyin Road and the vicinity of INEC office as people streaming to the place were frisked
    before being allowed entry.

    Security was provided by officers and men of the Nigerian Army, the Police, the Department of State Services (DSS).

    A Police helicopter was hovering over the INEC office throughout the time the ceremony lasted.

    The governor-elect noted that INEC should be commended for conducting a process of 14 steps which culminated in the presentation of the
    Certificate of Return.

    Fayemi stressed that INEC did a yeoman’s job in delivering the election in a credible and professional manner despite fears being expressed in the build-up to the poll.

    The former Minister of Mines and Steel Development also commended the security agencies for providing security back-up which gave the
    electorate confidence to come out and exercise their franchise.

    Fayemi hailed the APC National Working Committee (NWC) led by the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the State Executive Committee led by the State Chairman, Chief Olajide Awe.

    He also expressed his appreciation to the traditional rulers for the stabilizing roles played in the run-up to the election and everybody
    that contributed to the success of the election.

    He said: “For INEC, the work has just ended and for us, the work has just started. We have a responsibility not to disappoint our people.

    “Ekiti people will see the benefit of good governance by the grace of God as from October 16.”

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. AbdulGaniy Raji, expressed delight that the election was held despite the tension that
    preceded it.

    Raji commended the people of Ekiti State for the maturity displayed before during and after the election which he was successful.

    He said with the conduct of the poll, Ekiti is moving higher and expressed hope that futures elections to be conducted in the state will be successful.

    Speaking earlier, INEC National Commissioner Soyebi noted that the presentation of Certificate of Return marked the end of the process of
    the Ekiti governorship election.

    Soyebi who described Ekiti as a homogenous state urged the people of the state to continue being one another’s brother’s keepers.

    He said: “Today marks the end of the (governorship) election in Ekiti State on the part of the Commission which is the presentation of Certificates of Return to the governor-elect and the deputy governor-elect.

    “If there are issues arising from the election, there is another arm of government that will take care of that. This is another important day in the history of the state.

    “On behalf of the Commission, I congratulate everybody. Ekiti has pointed the way forward in conducting elections in Nigeria.”

  • Fayemi will justify confidence reposed in him – Ondo APC

    Ondo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has assured Ekiti State citizenry that the governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, will justify the confidence reposed in him by the people.

    Its Chairman, Ade Adetimehin described the victory of Fayemi as worthy.

    It said the experience of the governor-elect both as a former governor, and as a former minister, would come handy in his administration of the State when sworn in.

    A statement by the party’s spokesman,Alex Kalejaye said” We have no doubt in the ability of Dr. Fayemi to transform the fortune of Ekiti within the next four years. I am very confident that he won’t disappoint the people”.

    Adetimehin expressed appreciation to the political class and the voters for finding the APC flag bearer worthy of trust, and urged them to support his government.

    He described APC’s victory in Ekiti as an indication that the party is acceptable in every party of Nigeria.

    The statement urged aggrieved members of the state to retrace their steps and explore the current moves to reconcile all parties within the fold, describing the APC as one to beat in 2019 elections.

    The chairman hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) for rising to the occasion and giving the Ekiti people a free, fair and credible election.

    He urged the electoral body to replicate the level of competence displayed in future elections.

  • Ekiti 2018: GPN candidate congratulates Fayemi

    The governorship candidate of the Green Party of Nigeria (GPN), Prince Adewale Olusola Akinyele, has congratulated the governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on his victory at Saturday’s election.

    Akinyele said Fayemi’s choice by the electorate at the July 14 was democracy in action and expression of the free will of voters to choose their governor.

    He urged the people of the state to support the governor-elect to translate his agenda for the development of Ekiti.

    According to him, Fayemi needs the support of all Ekiti people to take the state to an enviable height.

    Read Also: Dare congratulates Fayemi

    The GPN candidate also praised voters for their peaceful conduct before, during and after the poll.

    Akinyele said the participation of thirty four other aspirants in the election enriched the process and provided a healthy competition.

    He said developing Ekiti is a task that must be achieved by all its citizens irrespective of the parties they belong to adding that the overall interest of the should be paramount.

  • Ekiti 2018: Lawyer accuses PDP of vote buying in Ikere-Ekiti

    Human rights lawyer, Mr. Morakinyo Ogele, has accused the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of engaging in vote buying in Ikere-Ekiti, the hometown of its candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola.

    He was reacting to Olusola’s allegation that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won Saturday’s election largely to alleged purchase of votes.

    Olusola and his party, PDP, have signified intent to challenge the victory of the governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, before the Election Petition Tribunal.

    Ogele, a native of Ikere like Olusola, alleged that PDP and its agents induced voters at his Okesegun Polling Unit in Ogbonjana Ward.

    The National Coordinator of Ekiti Redemption Group (ERG) also warned Olusola not to use state funds to sponsor his proposed court case against the poll result.

    According to him, he has been compiling evidence of alleged PDP vote buying to be forwarded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation.

    Read Also: God has liberated Ekiti from slavery, says Fayemi

    Ogele said: “I am a voter and I voted for the candidate of my choice in our unit, Okesegun Unit in Ogbonjana Ward, Ikere-Ekiti where PDP asked voters to fill forms and the voters who voted for them were given tallies.

    “After being giving tallies to voters who voted for PDP, they were asked to go to a location nearby where they were given money.

    “In the same ward, we prevented some of the PDP thugs from hijacking our ballot box. The PDP should come out and explain where they got the huge amount of money they shared on election day.

    “PDP chairman and any other person in the party lack the moral justification that other parties shared money at the election.

    “PDP lost because of the character that is ruling Ekiti while Dr. Kayode Fayemi won on his goodwill.

    “PDP in Ekiti State is an agent of poverty, circulating poverty in Ekiti State. Ekiti people are fed up with looting, impunity, deceit being perpetrated by the Fayose administration.”