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Tag: Kayode Fayemi

  • Ekiti 2018: Why I want to rule Ekiti again – Fayemi

    Dr Kayode Fayemi, All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Saturday election in Ekiti, on Tuesday said he wanted to rule the state again to eradicate poverty among the people.

    He stated this at APC’s final rally ahead of the election at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday.

    Fayemi, who was governor of the state from 2011 to 2015, told the crowd that his successor, Gov. Ayodele Fayose impoverished the citizens by not paying salaries and pensions.

    According to him, Fayose deliberately deprived civil servants, teachers and pensioners their eight months’ salaries, pensions and gratuity, because he wanted to punish and make them beg for money on the streets.

    He commended Ekiti people for coming out to welcome President Muhammadu Buhari contrary to the directives of the governor that nobody should come out to welcome the president to the state.

    Read also: I remain Accord candidate, says Aluko

    Fayemi, who resigned as Minister of Solid Mineral and Steel Development to contest the election, appealed to the electorate in the state to come out en masse to vote for him on Saturday.

    “I am so delighted with your determination to defy the unpopular order by Gov. Ayo Fayose that nobody should come out to welcome President Muhammadu Buhari to Ekiti.

    “It is therefore time to send Fayose and his unpopular government out of office.

    “I want you to vote for me on Saturday and show Gov. Fayose that ‎the power of Ekiti people is much greater than his power,” he said.

  • No gang up can stop Buhari from winning 2019 presidential election – Ngige

    Former Anambra governor and now Labour and Productivity Minister, Chris Ngige said on Tuesday in Ado Ekiti that no gang up would stop President Buhari’s re-election in 2019.

    Ngige said that the gang up against the President by some leaders would fail ahead of next year election, noting that he has brought sanity to the Nigeria’s economy compared to what he met when he assumed office in 2015.

    The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that the former Senator who spoke in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital during the grand finale mega rally of the All Progressives Congress, described the parties forming alliance against the president as “mushroom”.

    He said the APC, which first evolved as Action Congress and later Action Congress of Nigeria before its current name of APC, had remained a progressive party with the vision and mission of uplifting the lives of Nigerians.

    The former governor said the people of Ekiti should vote wisely by electing Dr. Kayode Fayemi of APC on Saturday, so as to be part of progressives.

    Read also: ‘Buhari deserves second term’

    According to him, parties gathering to unseat Buhari are just wasting their time as nothing will stop President Buhari from winning 2019 Presidential election.

    “All the gang up against the President will fail and he is going to win with landslide victory. It is obvious that before now, there was strong opposition against President Buhari by same past Nigerian leaders, but their plan to stop him then failed.

    “I can equally assure you that their gang up now will still fail because those who say Buhari should not run in 2019 are afraid that they may be forced to cough out the public fund they embezzled through dubious means, “he said.

    He accused Governor Ayo Fayose of impoverishing the people of Ekiti state, especially the Igbo traders by his refusal to pay backlog of salaries.

    He noted that the non-payment of salaries was fast destroying the businesses of many Igbo people that are into trading in the state, saying a vote for Fayemi would address the current situation.

  • Ekiti must grow beyond stomach infrastructure – Buhari

    Says Fayemi competent to be governor

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday urged the people of Ekiti State to cast their votes for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Saturday’s governorship election.

    He said the people of the Fountain of Knowledge should not allow themselves to be insulted by the stomach infrastructure policy being promoted by Governor Ayo Fayose.

    The nation’s number one citizen said Ekiti should grow beyond stomach infrastructure vote APC to enjoy god governance, development, better standard of living and infrastructure development.

    He expressed regrets that many politicians have been capitalizing on the herdsmen crisis in some parts of the country accusing him of not doing anything because he is Fulani.

    Describing the allegation as a “cheap blackmail,” Buhari said protection of life and property of Nigerians is paramount to him noting that measures are being taken to put an end to the herdsmen’s onslaught.

    Buhari spoke on Tuesday at the grand finale governorship rally held at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, where APC national leaders and governors canvassed for votes for the flag bearer, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

    The President described Fayemi as competent, capable and experienced enough to be elected governor again noting that the APC flag bearer served excellently well as Minister of Mines and Steel Development.

    He said Ekiti get its fair share of resources and projects from the Federal Government despite the political difference between the government at the centre and state government.

    Joining Buhari at the rally are Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha; Governors Abdulazeez Yari (Zamfara), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Kashim Shettima (Borno), Umaru Al Makura (Nasarawa) and Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki represented by his deputy, Philip Shaibu.

    Ministers who attended the rally include Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation), Babatunde Fashola (Power, Works and Housing), Chris Ngige (Labour and Employment), Ogbonnaya Onu (Science and Technology), Adebayo Shittu (Communications) and Abdulrahman Danbazzau (Interior).

    Thousands of residents defied Fayose’s order to stay at home and thronged the stadium to welcome the President who first paid courtesy visit to the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe and other traditional ruler at the palace.

    Commercial activities were going on at the city’s main markets while many commercial drivers and motorcycle riders plied their trade on the major roads.

    Buhari, whose helicopter touched down at about 12.35 pm at Christ’s School sports field headed to the Ewi’s Palace where the monarchs were waiting to receive him.

    Read Also: Ekiti residents defy Fayose’s order to stay at home

    At the palace, Oba Adejugbe, advocated for creation of cottage industries in Ekiti to generate jobs for the unemployed. He urged Fayemi to do more for the people if he wins the poll and is sworn in again.

    At the stadium, Buhari said Ekiti people are dear to him which explained why many indigenes of the state got very important appointments in his administration including the most senior military officer in the land, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin.

    The President said he and his party have not only come to campaign for the votes of Ekiti people but to key in to the change agenda and vote APC.

    He disclosed that the APC-led Federal Government has carried out laudable projects including construction and rehabilitation of 13 federal roads including Ikole-Omuo Road, Efon Alaaye-Iwaraja Road, Ido-Ifaki Road, Ado-Ifaki Road, Ila-Ilale-Ekan-Otun Road and internal roads at Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE).

    Buhari said his administration also awarded contract for a Federal Secretariat which is under construction in Ekiti to ensure that federal civil servants have office accommodation.

    He noted that a National Housing Project to provide accommodation for residents was extended to Ekiti State by his administration which has also generated jobs for local artisans.

    The President further explained that thousands of Ekiti residents benefited from the social investment programmes of his administration including Npower for youths, School Feeding for primary school pupils, Conditional Cash Transfer and several tranches of bailout funds.

    Urging Ekiti electorate to vote Fayemi, Buhari said: “Don’t allow yourself to be blackmailed by stomach infrastructure; your future is in your hand, you must grow beyond stomach infrastructure.

    “Ekiti should do the right thing by voting APC and commence the journey to reclaim your land and restore your values.

    “I recommend Fayemi to you, he served as Minister of Mines and Steel Development, he is experienced. Don’t waste your vote, vote Dr. Kayode Fayemi.”

    APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, urged Ekiti voters to elect Fayemi and reject PDP which he accused of inflicting hardship of non-payment of salaries on civil servants, teachers and local government workers.

    Oshiomhole accused Fayose of pocketing the over N20 billion bailout funds given to him by the Buhari administration to pay arrears of workers’ salaries and dancing “kurukere” when workers are suffering.

    He disclosed that he held a meeting with labour unions in Ekiti on Monday where he gave a commitment that Fayemi would pay all the outstanding arrears owed by Fayose to give relief to workers

    Oshiomhole said: “I have served as a guarantor that Fayemi will pay the arrears of workers’ salaries when elected and he will ensure that all Ekiti people get what is due to them.

    “Four years ago, I was a sitting governor of Edo State and I wanted to come and campaign for Fayemi in the 2014 election but the PDP made sure that I did not have the opportunity to come and campaign for the then incumbent Fayemi.

    “Mr. President, we thank you and we know that you will not do the same, we are not here for revenge. Fayose has been trying to divert attention, he abused INEC, Police and he is behaving like a typical armed robber.

    “Fayose has resorted to very primitive tactics, he gave unlawful order that all shops be closed and manipulated drivers not to bring out their vehicles to convey people here.

    “This boy (Fayose) is a poor student of thuggery; nothing, absolutely nothing can stop people that are determined. The President is proud that you defied his tactics and came here today.

    “You will vote freely and fairly and nothing will happen. Whoever Fayose demotes, Fayemi will promote him and whoever Fayose dismisses, Fayemi will reinstate.

    “All of you go to your polling units with your PVCs and by Saturday, Fayose will cry.”

    APC National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu urged Ekiti electorate to reject the PDP which he described as a “party of looters.”

    Tinubu described APC as a pain killer that will put an end to the pains being experienced by Ekiti people and Nigerians at large.

    He said Buhari built three refineries for Nigeria but the PDP government dismantled and sold them off leaving Nigerians to suffer.

    Tinubu said: “They (PDP) stole all the money, what do you have left in the treasury? PDP is a party of destruction, it is Poverty Development Party.

    Read Also: Photos: Ekiti APC governorship rally

    “When they stole your money, they stole your life, they stole your future. APC is here to rebuild what has been destroyed. We thank God for the party under the leadership of our Baba, President Buhari.

    “APC is the pain killer, my mama used to give me APC when I was young. When you vote APC, you are voting for future, you are voting for the sake of your children.

    “It is not for the sake of Kayode (Fayemi), he had an appointment in Abuja but he has come back to serve you. If you want Ekiti to look like Lagos, to witness development and have your children in schools, vote APC.

    “Don’t let anybody intimidate you, you will be protected, nobody can intimidate you. If you want to eat the seed inside palm kernel, it will not be easy/

    “You can’t sleep at home and be expecting power, nobody serves it in a restaurant. No matter the level of their lies, propaganda and intimidation, fear has gripped them.

    “Vote and stand by your vote, it will not be like that of 2014. It is your turn to get your government for your good and progress, go there on Saturday and vote APC.”

    Fayemi promised return of good governance to Ekiti if the people of the state elect him. He commended the people for trooping out in large numbers for the rally to welcome the President.

    He said the party is united after the primary noting that all governorship aspirants who contested for the party’s ticket with him are resolute to ensure victory for the party.

    Fayemi said: “During my time, there is no community that did not benefit from our government. If we did not construct your road, we built your school, if we did not build your school, we constructed palace for your Kabiyesi, if we did not build palace for your Kabiyesi, we fixed your drains.

    “We did all that, we did not owe workers a single Naira; we paid the elderly, we paid free WAEC, NECO, JAMB, NABTEB fees. We increased workers salaries (minimum wage) from N8,500 to N13,000 and then to N19,000.

    “We were the first to pay Rural Teachers Allowance in Nigeria, Core Teachers Allowance. I am running on a track record of service in all constituencies, there is no single community that did not benefit from our (first) tenure.

    “Why am I back? President did not sack me (as minister). My people need me for reclaiming your land and restoring our values. Your PVCs must be ready because the power of the people is greater than the people in power.”

    Chairman of APC National Campaign Council for Ekiti State governorship election, Kebbi State Governor Bagudu said the magnitude of crowd that thronged the stadium was a pointer to an APC victory on Saturday.

    Bagudu said Ekiti has the best potential to develop under Fayemi noting that Ekiti people appreciated what he did during his first tenure.

    “Go to your polling units on Saturday and vote APC; guard your votes, don’t be intimidated. President Buhari has assured that security will be provided and your votes will count,” Bagudu said.

    Yari, who is also the Chairman of Nigeria Governor’s Forum (NGF) said Fayose held its rally on the streets last week because he was afraid of an empty stadium.

    Yari said Fayemi has done it before and he will do it again urging residents to troop out in large numbers to vote Fayemi.

    Other governors who spoke at the rally include Akeredolu, Bello, Aregbesola, Ajimobi and Amosun.

    The Senator representing Ekiti Central, Mrs. Fatimat Raji Rasaki led other PDP members into the APC. She described the PDP as a party of retrogression, anti-people and anti-progressive party.

    Other PDP chieftains officially received into APC are House of Representatives member representing Ekiti Central Federal Constituency 2, Mr. Olamide Oni; House of Assemby member representing Ikere Constituency 2, Mr. Sunday Akinniyi; House of Assembly member representing Ise/Orun Constituency, Mr. Adeniran Alagbada; immediate past Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Owoseni Ajayi; immediate past Chairman of Ekiti East Local Government, Mr. Samuel Adekunle.

    Ex-Attorney General Ajayi accused Fayose of running a selfish government which has lost focus and popularity among the people.

    Former Minister of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye said more than half of PDP leaders and members in Ekiti State have left the umbrella party saying “PDP will be buried on Saturday.”

  • Don’t waste your votes, elect Fayemi, Buhari tells Ekiti electorate

    President Muhamadu Buhari on Tuesday asked the electorate in Ekiti  not to waste their votes  in Saturday’s governorship election.

    Rather,  the president urged voters to elect the candidate of the All Progressives Party (APC),  Dr  Kayode Fayemi, given the track record of the ruling APC  administration in the country.

    Buhari, who gave the charge in Ado-Ekiti  at the grand finale of the mega rally of the party, told the crowd of party faithful and supporters at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium that there was no better alternative to Fayemi.

    He said the people of Ekiti must not be deceived  by the “stomach infrastructure’’ programme  of the PDP government in the state, describing it as at variance with the norms in a functional democracy.

    Buhari said he was in  Ekiti not only to campaign for Fayemi but also to create  awareness as well as sensitise the people on the dividends of democracy so far made available to them.

    The president said his administration had so far executed 13 projects  in the state, with no fewer than 29 contractors handling them.

    He said the initiatives, most of which were  road construction projects,  had also provided direct and indirect jobs to  many residents.

    Besides, he said approval had been given by his administration for the construction of a Federal Secretariat in Ado Ekiti to ease the burden of  office accommodation faced by federal workers in the state.

    He also listed the engagement of many indigenes of the state in  the N-Power programme of the Federal Government, granting of  bailout funds to  the state as well as approval of School-Feeding Programme and Conditional Cash Transfer scheme as some of the achievements of  his administration.

    The president assured  the people of the state of more dividends of democracy if they support Fayemi in the election.

    Also addressing the crowd, the National Chairman of the party, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, said Fayemi  would redress all the wrongs of the Ayo Fayose administration.

    He also gave an assurance that all the salaries and emoluments owed workers by the Fayose administration would be paid.

    Speaking in the same vein, the National Leader of the party, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu,  assured residents  that the APC was committed to the progress and development of the country.

    He accused the PDP of destroying the country’s economy, urging the people to embrace the change agenda of the APC.

    ” It was the PDP that destroyed the future of Nigeria and those yet unborn. PDP stole all the monies and made life difficult for all the citizens

    ” It is not easy to rebuild what the PDP has spent long years destroying; for  many of them that are now complaining,  where were they when our economy was being bastardised?

    ” You must not allow anybody to  intimidate you, I urge you to guard  your PVC and use it wisely on Saturday

    ” It is your turn in Ekiti to get a good government, it is not for you alone but for your children and their future,’’  Tinubu said.

    At the rally were 12 APC governors, seven serving ministers and national leaders of the party.

    The high point  of the event was the formal defection to   the APC  by  many PDP members including a  serving Senator,  Fatimah Raji-Rasaki, and a member of  the House of  Representatives, Oni Olamide.

     

  • Show Ekiti projects executed with N25 billion, PDP tells Fayemi

    The Ekiti State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party ( PDP ) has challenged the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who is also a former governor of the state, Dr Kayode Fayemi, to show the people of the state the projects he executed with the N25 billion bond he took from the Capital Market during his tenure.

    Throwing the challenge in a statement in Ado-Ekiti Friday, the PDP State Chairman, Chief Gboyega Oguntuase, said rather than executing projects with the loan, Fayemi only put the state into serious debts that would affect the welfare of the people for years to come.

    Oguntuase urged voters in the state to come out in large number next Saturday and vote for the PDP candidate in the poll, Prof Kolapo Olusola, and allow for the continuity of the peace, progress and harmony being enjoyed in the state.

    “Thank God that though they have been denying some many atrocities they committed while in office from 2010 to 2014, there is no way they can deny borrowing N25 billion from the Capital Market. Everybody in the state knows this.

    Unfortunately, they cannot show the people what they spent the money on.
    “In the prospectus published to explain how the loan would be utilised, they listed various projects. Among the projects are a new Governor’s Office, a new Ojaba Market, a flyover, a state pavilion and a new Government House. Where are the projects? The people are asking.

    Read Also: Fayemi condemns holiday for PDP rally

    “The flyover was built in their stomachs. The Governor’s Office never existed. That is after they committed N100 million to scrape a parcel of land near the House of Assembly Complex. For the Ojaba Market, they only erected a giant billboard at the entrance of the palace of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti.

    “They took the first tranche of the loan, that is N20 billion in 2012 and the second tranche of N5 billion few months to the 2014 governorship election. This is apart from the huge monthly allocations and over N46 billion got from the Excess Crude Oil Account. Ekiti people are asking Fayemi and the APC what they did with the money,” he said.

    The PDP boss noted that the actions and inactions of Fayemi not only led the state into debts, but had mortgaged the state in some ways.
    He explained that the state spends over N1.1 billion monthly to service the debts from its statutory allocations.

    “The monthly deductions have been denying the state revenue that would have been used to pay workers salary, provide more facilities for the people to enjoy and even make provisions for the future of the state and the people,” he noted.

    Oguntuase added that since Fayemi failed when entrusted with the leadership of the state for four years, he should not expect the people of the state to now commit their welfare and future into his hands.

  • Ekiti: Court dismisses suit seeking to bar Fayemi

    A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Bwari, Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking to bar the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Kayode Fayemi from participating in the Ekiti State governorship election.

    Justice O. A. Musa, in a judgment on Tuesday,  dismissed the suit marked: CV/57/2018, filed by the Action People’s Party (APP), on the grounds that it was without merit. The suit had Fayemi, APC and Ekiti State Government as 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants.

    The plaintiff had urged the court to disqualify Fayemi and restrain the APC from fielding him as its candidate on the grounds of his indictment in a report issued by a commission of inquiry set up by the state government to probe his administration, and the white paper issued by the government based on the report.

    The APP had contended  that, based on the indictment and the white paper issued, banning him from holding office for 10 years, Fayemi was constitutionally  disqualified Fayemi from standing for election by virtue of Section 182(1)(i) of the Constitution.

    Read Also: Fayemi meets workers, artisans, others

    In his judgment, Justice Musa upheld the argument by Rafiu Balogun, lawyer to Fayemi and the APC to the effect that Section 182 of the Constitution, on which the suit was based, was no longer a valid provision.

    The judge said the provision had ceased to exist by virtue of the First Alteration Act, 2011, by which the National Assembly deleted the Section 182 of the Constitution.

    Justice Musa, who faulted the report by the Ekiti judicial commission of enquiry, held that the process leading to the issuance of the report was “fundamentally tainted with denial of due process and fair hearing.”

    The judge noted that although the commission initially invited Fayemi as a witness, he objected to the invitation, which was overruled by the commission.

    He said after overruling Fayemi’s objection to being invited as a witness, the commission failed to re-invite him to notify him that he was being invited as an accused, and without affording him an opportunity to be heard, but went ahead to give a report indicting him.

    Justice Musa, who described the procedure adopted by the commission as “absurd”, proceeded to quash the report and the white paper issued by the state based on the report.

    He said: “The proceedings of the Ekiti State Judicial Commission of Enquiry and the report are hereby quashed. They are null and void. The white paper issued by the state government is based on a non-existent report and it is a nullity.”

    The judge also noted that there was evidence before the court that the report and white paper was subject of litigation before the High Court of Ekiti State.

    Justice Musa said even if the report and white paper were to be valid, they were not sufficient to disqualify a citizen from holding public office.

    The judge said, going by several decisions by the Supreme Court, an indictment by bodies, other than a court of law, cannot amount to a conviction by a court.

    He said it was only when a citizen is convicted by a court of law for criminal offence can such a person be disqualified from holding public office or standing for election.

    The judge said the position of the Supreme Court was informed by the fact that it was only a court of law that could conduct a fair and unbiased trial.

    Justice Musa noted that none of the parties to the suit presented before the court,any evidence of indictment or conviction from any court of law.

    The judge declared that Fayemi was eligible to stand for election and hold public office. He held that the APC was at liberty, under the law, to field him as its candidate.

    Justice Musa, who answered the two questions posed by the plaintiff in the negative, dismissed all its prayers.

    An elated Balogun, while reacting to the judgment, praised the court for standing with the truth and ensuring that justice was served.

  • Ekiti 2018: Fayemi campaign raises alarm over Ekiti debt figures

    The Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation has raised the alarm over the latest figures released by the Debts Management Office putting Ekiti State’s debts at N117b up from N56b figure it released few months ago.

    In its latest table detailing the debts owed by the 36 states of the federation, DMO put Ekiti State debts between October 2014 and 2018 at N117b.

    The Director of Media and Publicity of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Wole Olujobi, in a statement on Tuesday accused Governor Ayo Fayose of profligacy, saying the governor is deliberately piling up debts to help himself while the state remains under the bondage of suffocating debts.

    He regretted that despite huge debts owed by Fayose, there is nothing to show for them except an over-priced 800-metre single-lane flyover that cost Ekiti people N17.5b in official records, though quoted at N6b to Ekiti people to escape public anger.

    The campaign spokesman said it is callous and unpatriotic to put Ekiti people in difficult condition while the governor enjoyed the best of life.

    He said the latest debt figure was wearisome after recent reports indicated that Fayose had allegedly borrowed N9b at an outrageous interest rate from a South South governor to allegedly finance the election of the Deputy Governor, Olusola Eleka, with the condition to repay the debts within six months if Eleka wins the July 14 election.

    Read Also: Fayemi meets workers, artisans, others

    Asking Fayose to retrieve the alleged stolen N19b allegedly lodged in the accounts of a construction company to address the state’s economic challenges, Olujobi said: “Paying N9b debt back within six months is a clear signal to workers that they should not expect any salary in the first six months of Eleka’s administration if he wins, even though N19b is allegedly hidden in the accounts of a construction company for safe-keeping for alleged personal comfort.

    “We are worried that within four months, Ekiti State’s debts have risen from N56b to N117b without commensurate development projects except reports of property acquisitions across the nation allegedly traced to the governor.

    “It is also worrisome that despite the latest DMO’s figure of N117b, Fayose has allegedly borrowed N9b with suffocation conditions from a South South governor to prosecute Eleka’s election.

    “This irresponsible transaction has already drawn the anger of the Rivers State indigenes and Rivers State chapter of APC in particular, who urged the two partners to stop spending public funds for private comfort while their people suffer.”

    Regretting that Fayose had allegedly turned Ekiti State to a “trading post”, Olujobi asked the governor to account for the bailout and budget support facility he collected to pay salary but were allegedly diverted to self-serving projects.

    “Fayose for a very long time denied that he collected N2b ecological fund before he owned up after APC was about getting the facts with the Freedom of Information (FOI) law.

    “He denied collecting monthly N1.3b Budget Support Facility for 13 months to pay salary before the Federal Government exposed him.

    “Local governments allocations are illegally hijacked with threats while, repeatedly, Fayose lied that he never borrowed one kobo only to be exposed by DMO that he had borrowed N56b, which has now jumped to N117b without the approval of his rubber-stamped House of Assembly.

    “By now, Ekiti workers ought to know that by this latest debts figure of N117b, there is no way Fayose can sustain his lie that the state has no money to pay workers; he is deliberately denying workers their entitlements while Ekiti people are denied development projects for the comfort of one man in position of authority.

    “This is callous, and a deliberate punishment of Ekiti people by a man who believes that Ekiti State exists only for his private comfort while 2.7m Ekiti people suffer,” he explained.

  • Ekiti: Court dismisses suit seeking to bar Fayemi

    A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Bwari, Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking to bar the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Kayode Fayemi from participating in the Ekiti Governorship election.

    Justice O. A. Musa, in a judgment on Tuesday,  dismissed the suit by the Action People’s Party (APP) on the ground that it was without merit.

    Read Also:INEC chief to Fayose: Fayemi didn’t hire us to rig

    The plaintiff had argued among others, that Fayemi’s indictment by a commission of inquiry set up by the state government to probe his administration, and the white paper issued by the state based on the indictment, disqualified Fayemi from holding public office by virtue of Section 182(1)(i) of the Constitution.

    Justice Musa quashed Fayemi’s purported indictment by commission of inquiry and the white paper on the grounds that the ‎process leading to the report and white paper was tainted with bias as Fayemi was not accorded fair hearing.

    The judge noted that Section 182(1)(i) of the Constitution, on which the suit was based, was no longer in existence having been deleted by the National Assembly through the first alteration of the Constitution in 2011.

    Justice Musa who who answered the two questions posed by the plaintiff in the negative, refused all its prayers and declared the Fayemi was eligible to contest the next Governorship election and that the APC was at liberty, under the law to field him as its candidate.

    Details later…

  • Ekiti 2018: Workers accuse Fayose of illegal data capturing

    The Enlightened Workers Forum (EWF), an interest group in the Ekiti State work force, has raised an alarm over an alleged plot by Governor Ayodele Fayose to rig the July 14 governorship election in favour of his party, PDP candidate Prof Kolapo Olusola Eleka.

    The group in a press statement made available to The Nation on Friday, said it has uncovered the voter’s card data capturing going on at the Peace Corps of Nigeria, Ekiti State Command Headquarters in Oke Ila area of Ado-Ekiti and Fajuyi mini pavilion.

    The EWF in a statement by its Coordinator, Mike Bamidele, maintained that the Ekiti Command of the PCN was acting on an agreement had with
    Fayose to collate, according to the Wards, Polling Units, the VIN and serial numbers on the voter’s cards belonging to members of the Corps.

    Denying the alleged rigging plot, the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Lanre Ogunsuyi, described the allegation as a figment of imagination of the group.

    Ogunsuyi said: “This is a figment of their imagination, all parties are busy mobilizing and training their supporters, party agents and enlightening the electorate ahead of the election.

    “No worker has submitted his card for any pecuniary gain and no cloning of cards is going on as alleged. What is going on are political parties, PCN members are free to join any political meeting of their choice.”

    The EWF said the alleged action was aimed at cloning the cards and double the vote count during the governorship election for the PDP candidate to emerge victorious at the poll.

    It claimed that Fayose had also requested for the bank details of the PCN members that have already submitted their PVCs for the purported data capturing with a promise to give each PCN members N10,000 a day to the election through bank alert.

    The group said: “Fayose, in his desperate moves to coerce the PCN Ekiti State Command into his devilish political tricks as the next month governorship election draws near had given the non-governmental security outfit State Employment Forms and promised to enlist their members into the State Public Service and also mobilize them as a secret security personnel to perpetrate rigging in the next month governorship election.

    “We advise the Ekiti State Command of the Peace Corps of Nigeria to steer clear of Fayose’s political antics ahead of July 14 governorship poll and not be party to any activity that could denigrate the good public image of the organisation.”

    Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has warned Fayose against illegal collection of workers’ voter cards through coercion, saying “voters have inalienable right to vote for candidate of their choice.”

    An official circular was sighted in which Fayose ordered school principals and some interest groups among teachers to collect the names, bank accounts and voter cards details of teachers in public schools for profiling.

    A statement by Director, Media and Publicity of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Wole Olujobi, urged Fayose to stop alleged criminal and unauthorised collection of teachers and workers’ PVC numbers.

    Fayemi said workers should be allowed to cast their votes for their preferred candidates in the coming election without any fear of intimidation by the government or its officials.

    He added that compelling workers and teachers to submit their PVC numbers as a condition for salary and running grants payment or promotion amounted to undue intimidation and crude blackmail.

    Read Also: Ekiti 2018: Oni, Others Working For Fayemi’s Victory, says Bamidele

    Fayemi made these declarations while speaking with reporters in his Isan-Ekiti country home in Oye Local Government, the last town he visited in his three-week campaign tours of the 132 towns and villages in the 16 local government areas of the state.

    The APC candidate promised to provide visionary leadership through his Eight-point Agenda to redirect the state to the path of growth and development after four years of rudderless leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    He lamented that Fayose shut down the School of Agriculture Technology in Isan Ekiti and took away all the tractors and other modern farming tools in the school “at a time many other states are breaking new
    grounds in agriculture development and food sufficiency”.

    Fayemi explained that the College of Agriculture was designed to assist in training manpower in the agriculture sector that would in turn boost agricultural production in the state.

    He also lamented that Fayose “out of ignorance” stopped the Youth in Commercial Agricultural Development (YCAD) scheme by his administration, saying that all the poor decisions by Fayose’s administration had drastically affected agricultural production in the state.

    Fayemi promised to re-open the College of Agriculture and revitalise YCAD scheme, including other social security and empowerment schemes initiated by his last administration.

    He also said that the state government under his watch would build one cottage industry in each of the local government areas to provide
    employment for the teeming youth.

  • Ekiti 2018: Oni, Others Working For Fayemi’s Victory, says Bamidele

    The Director General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organization, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) entertain no fear about the victory of its candidate in the July 14 governorship poll.

    Bamidele said he has implicit confidence in the leadership of the party in Ekiti State, including former governor Segun Oni and his group working for Fayemi to make the victory a resounding and collective one.

    The Director General said these in a statement from his office and signed by his Media Aide, Ahmed Salami in Ado Ekiti on Thursday.

    Recently, Former Governor Oni was linked to a litigation purportedly filed in Abuja seeking the nullification of Fayemi’s victory in the party’s primary on account of his refusal to resign as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in line with the party’s constitution and guidelines.

    Commenting on the event that has been eliciting ripples in APC, Bamidele said he has no reason to doubt Oni and his commitment to Fayemi’s victory in this election.

    Read Also: Ekiti 2018: Bamidele named Fayemi’s campaign DG

    He said the PDP had also spread the rumour that the APC had been dealing with those who defected to the APC, including former Minister of Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye and others with caution, suspicion and restraint, describing this as a lie from the pit of hell coming from demented minds.

    “We are not ruling out the possibility of people having some ill-feelings about certain issues in our party, but that should not degenerate to the level where people can act as fifth columnists in their own party.

    “Ekiti APC can’t be immuned from crisis just like every other parties because we have diverse backgrounds and our temperaments differ in the way we handle issues. Let me say this, the doors of the party are wide open to entertain complaints and trash them in the interest of everybody.

    “This is not the time to suspect anyone unduly. We should see ourselves as one big family and prevent anyone from hiding under social media to break our ranks.

    “As the leader of Fayemi’s campaign for this election, we are ready to work with everybody and urge the leaders of all committees working within our campaign structures to be receptive to everybody and refrain from act that can lead to rancor and polarization before this election.

    “Dr Fayemi in his address after clinching the party’s ticket displayed humility by openly expressed his readiness to work with all groups. He later visited other 32 co-contestants for the ticket and this prevented the widely envisaged defections of bigwigs in APC.

    “We are not going into this race with divided mind. We are going into this election to win and we are rest assured that all our members will contribute to this victory.

    Bamidele told Adeyeye, who facilitated the defections of the PDP members to APC that their rights would be protected and there won’t be any form of discrimination against them.

    “We have no reason to be suspecting these men who decided to join the APC’s moving train, because our party is receptive and we have constitution that guarantees safety for all members.

    “There is no class differences in APC, you can only get that in  PDP and that was why the party had always been in perpetual crisis. Our party has respect for everybody, regardless of whether you are old or new members”, he added.