The Governor-elect of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, in this interview with NIYI ODEBODE and ADELANI ADEPEGBA, comments on the controversy over his victory and politics in the South-West
Many people were shocked by the result of the Ekiti governorship election. Were you also shocked?
No, we know the facts on ground. We live
by realities, not propaganda. There are no Nigerian politicians,
serious politicians, irrespective of their political parties, that do
not know that Fayose is on the ground and that Fayose’s name is a
household name in Ekiti. Despite the fact that I have left office for
eight years, I remain with the people. I have fought several elections,
for and in support of even the All Progressives Congress. I supported
Kayode Fayemi in the rerun. I was the beautiful bride then. It is their
way when the going is good with them; when you are fighting on their
side, you are the best in the world. Then, you will not be a criminal;
then you will not be 419er; then you have integrity, then you will be
celebrated. When you are against them; when you humble them, they call
you all sorts of names. They look for theories that do not go with
reality.
How would you respond to
Governor Fashola’s comment that Governor Fayemi accepted defeat because
he did not want bloodshed in Ekiti?
I really don’t want to join issues with
them, particularly, Governor Fashola because I like him so much. I like
his person and I have a lot of respect for him. But Governor Fashola is
talking from two sides of his mouth. They say Fayose is not educated,
according to them, but he is educated. He is learned but Fashola is not a
product of internal democracy. Governor Fashola is a product of
imposition, of god-fatherism. I remember when Fashola and Asiwaju Tinubu
had issues, there were trumped-up charges against him through the House
of Assembly. I remember vividly that he had to go to the court to clip
their wings, otherwise they would have messed him up. And even at that,
they still kept a tab on him. How would you be a governor, not elected
in a transparent primary, but selected by one leader and you would still
be surprised if an election was won through due process? Fashola knows
that when he accused Asiwaju of not allowing due process or internal
process in the party, Bola Tinubu told him, ‘Have you forgotten that if I
followed due process, you would not be governor?’ So he cannot
appreciate due process politically. When they were nominating
commissioners, he didn’t have one commissioner. He cannot equally say
this is my deputy. You know I chose my deputy myself, against all the
odds. They gave him a deputy governor, probably, the only person I think
he owns now is his wife. I am sure Fashola has forgotten that he is a
lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and that the constitution of
Nigeria says a man is adjudged innocent until otherwise proved by a
court of competent jurisdiction. I don’t want to say anything negative
about him. I would have asked a special adviser or somebody working
under me to reply him, but because he is a governor, I have to reply him
myself. Let me remind him very quickly, I was governor before him. He
was an ordinary chief of staff at that time. I am his senior
politically. If at all he knows anything about politics, I am his
senior. We know the intrigues more than him. It is true he is sitting on
a prime state like Lagos under the watch of his godfather, but he
should not run his mouth. It is unfortunate that a man at his level is
talking like that. I am an institution like his godfather in Ekiti. When
I started, I didn’t have a godfather. I didn’t have anybody like the
Saraki of Ilorin who put Bukola Saraki there. They should learn to allow
democracy to run. I want to tell them, if care is not taken, they would
lose Lagos. The tide, the movement is against them. One thing with the
APC is that they would lure you to defect, the moment you defect, they
would go and put you on the reserve bench. That is why they don’t have
support continuously. When you work for them, as soon as you are used,
they dump you. You can imagine a governor who is supposed to pay
salaries and he refused to pay for two, three months, and election is
coming, he is now rushing, borrowing money. The civil servants are now
telling him, thank God for Ekiti election, if not for Ekiti election,
this man would not pay us. Who is fooling who? Look at the heavy tax
burden in Lagos, in all their states. The Tsunami is going to consume
them and I am telling you the truth, it is not personal. I am not
boasting, I am an institution in Ekiti. What is the business of Fashola
in Ekiti? The problem is that they have all put their resources in Ekiti
election and they lost. The bookmakers failed.
Despite the fact that Fayemi conceded defeat, you described it as political gimmick. Why?
Governor Fayemi does not have a choice
than to concede. It is only honourable for him and I will continue to
respect him even when it’s obvious he had no choice but to concede, that
is the truth. In my village, people say if everybody doesn’t know the
truth, you that is affected by an incident knows the truth; a sick man
knows he is having pain in his tummy. Governor Fayemi knows the
situation is bad.
But some people have argued that your victory was achieved through inducement of voters with rice and money?
Unfortunately, they (APC members) are
the ones sharing money. I complained about them sharing money, check the
records. In 2011, they brought money to every polling booth. Those
people that were arrested during elections were caught with money. Which
party did they belong to? The issue here is that they all know it. They
are the ones that engaged in money politics. They buy all the
buy-ables. I have been out of office for eight years, where will I get
that kind of money to buy votes? The issue remains that somebody that
eats your food must be convinced before he can vote for you. Can a meal
of rice induce somebody to vote for you? Fayemi gave cooked rice, I gave
uncooked rice. This is politics and you need everything to entice
voters and rice was shared by me, almost two weeks before election.
Did you have to do that?
Yes. Why was Governor Fayemi buying
buses and inscribing Iyaloja, Igbo community on them close to the
election period? Why was Governor Fayemi’s wife donating garri
to the farmsteads? Why was he giving money to aged citizens and giving
gifts including recharge cards to the people? Why did his wife do that?
These are petty antics of politicians to draw voters and that does not
change anything. A container of rice would not change the mind of
anybody because the rice cannot last you till the election day. When you
attend ward meetings, you give your people money because some of them
may have come to meet you from various villages. You see, when you fail,
you must accept and Fayemi lives in Ekiti and we are there together.
Are they now holier than the Pope? Most of the hotels in Ekiti were
booked by Governor Fayemi six months before the election and they gave
rooms to all the policemen that came for the election. We knew what
transpired. Fayemi has been honourable. Their fear is not about Ekiti
anymore. They are saying all these because of Osun election. When
something is consuming you, you will hold on to anything and all things.
If you look at them very well, they were in shock for the first three
days after the Ekiti election, they had to summon a NEC meeting to take a
decision. They had to look for words, which they coined to describe
what happened because they were caught by the reality of the
international accreditation of that election which was adjudged free and
fair. The court is the highway for them, but they will meet us there.
Are they the owners of the court? They are not. They always think they
know it all.
There is a belief that federal might played a role in your victory.
I don’t know what is called federal
might. In those days, they used to snatch ballot boxes, you can’t do
that again. There used to be multiple thumb printing, but the ballot
papers are now customised to the polling booth and the ward. Even if you
want to help somebody rig the election, it is not easy anymore. They
should stop lying. Some of them said they militarised Ekiti and brought
so many security personnel. The question is that the law is not made for
the godly, but for the ungodly. The military personnel were not for
those that wanted to vote peacefully, they were for those that wanted to
create problems. Some of them came to Ekiti with voter’s cards that did
not belong to them, stayed in various hotels and had charms on them,
they were caught. Who were the people that were arrested in Anambra?
Were they not APC members? The same APC members and it is their method
to always want to change the story. Thank God, Fayemi was honourable
enough. I remember Governor Adebayo did the same thing. Na today them dey lie? It is not today.
Is it true that Ekiti voters did not sack Governor Fayemi for non-performance?
Governor Fayemi did not perform, that is
the truth. I stand to be corrected, but he did not perform. Let me ask
him one question: Governor Fayemi should tell Ekiti and the public one
road project initiated and completed by his administration-from bush
clearing, earth removal, sand filling, compacting, surface dressing,
drainage works, culvert, asphalt overlay, none. I stand to be corrected.
Governor Fayemi only laid asphalt on all the roads that I did. The
people of Ekiti State till today have not got a replacement for me. They
were not part of the events that took me out of office. Historically,
they still remain with Ayo Fayose in their hearts. Let me go to another
sector: in education, when I left government, Ekiti was number 35 out of
36 states in the country when I took over from Governor Adebayo, I
brought education with credit in five subjects in the external
examination as a yardstick, I brought Ekiti in 2004 to 18th position. In
2005, I brought it to 13th, in 2006, it came to the 8th position.
Today, we are back in number 34 under Governor Fayemi. So, tell me the
performance, the hype in the media, is that performance? I stand to be
corrected again, Governor Fayemi should point at one project started by
his administration and completed; none. The governor’s lodge that he is
building in Ayaba hill, is Ekiti the Federal Government that he is
building Aso Rock? Of what economic value are those projects to the
average man on the street? The pavilion was commissioned uncompleted. I
don’t like to take on Governor Fayemi, but we have to treat these
issues. These projects, of what economic benefits are they and at what
cost? Again, let me say this, when I was governor, I did not borrow a
dime to run my administration and I still left N10.4bn in the coffers of
the state government at my departure. It is not about your
professorship or doctorate degrees, or your being a SAN. They love me.
It is not about education. It is about native intelligence and your
ability to humble yourself and live with the people. Most of the people
that are local politicians, I know their names, I know their houses, I
know their farms. I know what they need. I helped them. I have their
phone numbers. I announced my phone numbers on the radio, they call me, I
picked calls, how many of the opposition politicians can put their
numbers in the public domain for people to call them? How many of them
can spend two days in their local government areas? I have gone to look
for ward leaders sometimes during party primaries, they would be in
their farms and I would meet them in their farms and still help some of
them to make heaps. Sometimes, it is not about money. There is no ward
in Ekiti that I don’t know people by names, at least 10 people per ward.
If I don’t know your name, I have an idea of who you are. You know most
politicians give their T-shirts free to supporters, I sold mine. My
T-shirt is N300 because I am like the football star. My T-shirt is not
free. When others give supporters their T-shirt, they leave it and buy
my own. If you don’t buy my T-shirt, you would look like a leper. My
hand band which has the inscription of my name is N100, my baseball cap
is N200. I am as golden as that. There is a membership of the PDP that
is general, but the membership of Ayo Fayose group costs N500. I have at
least over 90,000 registered members; they beg to register. With all
due respect to my supporters, I love them. I go to the remotest part of
Ekiti, wherever you are. If you are having a naming ceremony, you will
find me there. It doesn’t matter how poor you are. If I cannot give you a
cow, I give you a ram. If you are drinking Agbo jedi (herbal
concoction), I would join you. Women selling boli (roasted
plantain) know me and I know them and I phone them from time to time.
This is not a question of money. How many of our governors can go to
roadside eateries and eat there? They said I am a jankara governor and I have used this to beat them. Every Sunday, I go to eat ‘iyan kolobe’ (pounded
yam without soup) and I’d be there for one hour, but during the
election period, my opponents started doing the same thing. They started
buying maggi that costs N1000 for N5000, so the people knew that they
wanted their votes.
How do you react to the
belief that President Jonathan wants to ride on your victory to
penetrate the South-West in a desperate attempt to win the 2015
election?
There is nothing like desperation. What
you don’t have, you have to work to have it. My election is now a
reference point in Nigeria that big names don’t win election. Your coat
and babaringa don’t win elections. Go and cultivate the people.
They are in shock because just for one day, we changed the tide. The
tides are changing, the only thing that is constant is change and like I
told you, in another two, three elections, it would be difficult to
rig. Before, there was this belief that anybody could go to government
and take money, but you can’t do it again because things are changing.
These leaders should change with realities. Even in the PDP, in the
South-West, no leader will disparage the party. We would suspend you. It
doesn’t matter whether you are a former president or former governor,
if you disparage the party again, we will take you out. I am telling you
expressly. By no small means, posterity has put me in this position, if
anybody wants to join the APC, let him go there. If former President
Olusegun Obasanjo wants to join the APC, let him go to APC. Segun Oni
has gone, we don’t beg for membership. We want loyal members of our
party. Obasanjo should stop making uncomplimentary statements about the
party, if he continues, we will suspend him; nobody is bigger than this
party. When I fought the PDP, I wrote a letter of resignation and I
left. You cannot be in a glass house and throw stones; so whosoever, no
matter how big you are, you must be careful. You see, they said Segun
Oni left, did he win his polling booth? Segun Oni was imposed, his
allegiance was to the people that imposed him. We are not bothered about
that, but some people have names, they have no ground supporters. Those
who hired people like Segun Oni and gave him deputy chairman,
South-West, they have hired what Yoruba call korofo, empty carton.
After you won the election, the EFCC said you still have a case to answer. What’s your reaction?
EFCC did not say that. There is an
ongoing case with the EFCC. It is an ongoing case since 2007 and so
there is no issue. I am not the only one going through it and I remain
an innocent man until otherwise proven. So with all the EFCC case and
the blackmail, I still won an election. They should borrow a leaf from
there; there is something fundamental about me. They would all be living
in this country when I would be at the top. They will be criticising me
as I go to the top; that is their way. I am still going higher.
You mean you want to contest for the Presidency?
Well, maybe one day, after Jonathan. I
will give Jonathan unalloyed loyalty and support. After Jonathan, if
anybody wants to use me for anything higher, I will be glad to do it;
it’s service.
What gives you the assurance that PDP’s victory in Ekiti will be replicated in Osun?
The PDP will win everywhere. What do you
want me to say? You want me to tell you the PDP would not win? We will
win everywhere, it’s normal because we have bruised their ego. We have
taken the meat away from them. We have shown the whole world practical
demonstration, if you are not on the ground, you can’t win this
election. The APC will time out after Osun election.
What is the basis of your conviction?
I just said it to you. In the papers,
they put all the hype, they put Governor Fayemi’s photo, they showed
rallies. I’m a realist. I am on the ground. I am in the PDP. But I have a
lot of respect for Aregbesola, anybody who is a governor should be
respected because it’s a respectable office, but that does not take away
the fact that I am a PDP man and I will work in the overall interest of
the party.
There are fears that you may dismantle Fayemi’s programmes and policies…
I will rather consolidate on his
achievements. He has done his bit, he has tried his best; nobody can
finish governance, so why would I dismantle his programmes? Even if
there are mistakes by his administration, I will draw his attention to
them, we will talk about them. I want former governors to be like the
military. They still respect one another. Like I told you, there is no
reason to fight anybody. No fight, what I am interested in is to do my
own bit. Four years is a short time. I just want to do my own bit and
go. Unborn children of Ekiti will still be governors after me, so why
would I fight Fayemi? I will equally draw Governor Fayemi to myself,
draw Adebayo, draw Oni. I have defeated the three of them put together,
but that doesn’t matter. That is politics.
The APC has said it will contest your electoral victory in court. Are you worried?
Good luck to them. I will meet them there. Are they the owners of the court? They always think they can buy people.
What specific programmes do you have for Ekiti people?
I have done it before. I did something
in the past that made them appreciate me and brought me back. I will do
more than that. If I enumerate my agenda, we would be here forever. But
in infrastructure, my priority is to tar all the untarred roads in the
state capital within 18 months. I am going to construct a fly-over in
two strategic places in Ado-Ekiti to ease traffic. There are lots of
things I will do to enhance the welfare of my people. If I were Governor
Fayemi, I would not have built that governor’s house. I will build
roads and other infrastructure that can impact the life of the common
man. Things that can add value to the lives of the people are more
important than things that would add value to the governor.
Some people have argued that
your own kind of development programme is about stomachstructure and
not infrastructure, how do you react to this?
Are we saying that people should remain in hunger perpetually because we are providing infrastructure?
An hungry man is an angry man. For four
years people did not feel the direct impact of government, is that
governance? The truth of the matter is every contract in Ekiti was a
payback time for some people. Well, the consequence of not doing stomachstructure is for them to go back home.
You once said that your wife predicted your return to government house. Is she a prophetess?
It is a gift. A lot of people have the
gift of God. She is a woman after God’s heart, I keep saying that.
People say I should not put her in public domain, I should not talk
about her. The fact remains that the hand of God is with her and remains
upon her. When my wife said Fayose would come back, Fayemi’s wife
kicked, she said what did he forget in Government House? Now, they know
and they know better.
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