By Ifedolapo Adesola
When Dr. Kayode Fayemi was riding high as the governor of Ekiti State and Chairman of Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum, the name of Asiwaju Tinubu and his presidential ambition became an anathema around him and his supporters in the state.
The situation birthed the infamous APC Tokan tokan populated by members of the party who were in support of the presidential ambition of Fayemi while those rooting for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu were ostracized.
It is noteworthy that during Asiwaju’s tour of Ekiti pre APC presidential election primary, not a single member of the Paul Omotoso led APC Exco was allowed to honour Tinubu’s visit, they were not available to welcome him. Fayemi ensured they became incommunicado.
Fayemi is one Ekiti man that could be described as lucky in every sense of the word. Unassuming and extremely cunning, Fayemi manuovered his way to power through the controversial Justice Salami’s Appellate Court and has since remained in the corridor. Even now that the tides seem to be against him, his current moves doesn’t portray him as one willing to let go or at least give others chance.
While in Ekiti as the helmsman, Fayemi had a penchant for commissioning uncompleted projects with funfair. The phantom N2.5 billion beautification project in the twilight of his first term is a copious example.
Other uncompleted projects that were commissioned include the Cargo Airport that has not experienced the landing of a second airplane since it was commissioned in October 2022, Oba Adejugbe General Hospital which was commissioned without equipment and other materials, another is the Bus Terminal at Old Garage, Ado Ekiti.
As nothing could be hidden forever, especially in the civil service, facts emerged that Dr. Kayode Fayemi withdrew a whopping N1.3billion from Ekiti Wema Bank account a day before leaving office, the same way he withdrew N2 billion from workers’ cooperative societies fund shortly before the end of his first term in office. Though the people of Ekiti seem helpless in making Fayemi pay for his sins, that atrocious acts like these are being made public by those in the know is a pointer to the fact that a day of reckoning will definitely come.
Few days before his exit, Fayemi reportedly purchased three SUVs, one for himself, Ayodele Fayose and Adeniyi Adebayo who are both former governors of the state while salary of workers and dilapidated roads were left unattended to. Fayemi, being a member of APC, same party as that which is at the centre promised to offset 6 months salary being owed Teachers by his predecessor only paid 2 months despite the funds that accrued to Ekiti State via loans and monthly allocation from the federal government.
It is public knowledge that he promoted disharmony within the rank and file of Ekiti Obas by employing divide and rule tactics and balkanization of communities in the state. Till date, the animosity brought about by the former governor’s ill conceived action describes a people sitting on a keg of gun powder. One can only continue to pray that God bequeath unto the Biodun Oyebanji administration the needed wisdom to ensure the fragile peace at hand does not go sour.
Until Fayemi stepped down a few hours to the APC presidential primary after seeing the handwriting on the wall, it is on record that Fayemi did all within his power as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’Forum to rubbish his prime benefactor. His efforts amongst others led to the removal of former chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who is one of the staunchest allies of the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is uncharitable for someone who has worked so much against the ambition of the president-elect to the extent of blacklisting his supporters to now turn around to lobby for office. It doesn’t work that way.
The matter is not helped by the fact that Fayemi is a two term governor and former Minister. Power brokers in the state are strongly of the opinion that he is not the only qualified person in Ekiti State to be appointed minister, many are also of the opinion that he should not be the biggest harvester of the benefit of a struggle for which he wasn’t part of.
Credit | SAHARA REPORTERS
