There appears to be no let-up in the accusations and counter-accusations between Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and his immediate predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.
Fayemi, who is the immediate past Minister for Mines and Steel Development, is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti.
PDP spokesman: it’s just unfortunate that the APC-led federal government could descend to this wicked antics against the workers of ekiti state just because of an election which would eventually be lost by the party’s candidate
On his part, however, Fayose’s Peoples Democratic Party is fielding the state’s deputy governor, Prof. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, as its candidate.
But as the election campaigns reach a critical stage, the two pundits in the coming breath-taking poll, Fayose and Fayemi, have been embroiled in a war of words.
Fayose, who has already indicted Fayemi over alleged corrupt practices through a White Paper arising from the recommendations of a probe panel, is gung-ho in ensuring that Fayemi fails to return for another term of office.
But a bemused Fayemi, who is backed by the APC Federal Government, has not only contested Fayose’s White Paper in court but has also described it as “a tissue of paper.”
But only last week, the Ekiti PDP, taking the baton of attacks from Fayose himself, lambasted Fayemi, accusing him of being responsible for the seizure of some statutory funds to Ekiti, a situation that has not allowed Fayose to pay workers’ salary for upwards of five, six months.
In a statement by Mr. Jackson Adebayo, the Ekiti PDP spokesman, the party said the state government would have used the Paris Club Refund that is now trapped, to offset arrears of workers’ salaries.
“The permutation in the Presidency is that, if the Paris Club refund gets to Ekiti State before the election, it will be used to settle arrears of salary owed workers, which will eventually be an added advantage for the PDP to actualise landslide victory as it was recorded in 2014 when Dr. Kayode Fayemi was defeated in all the 16 local government areas of the state.
“It’s just unfortunate that the APC-led Federal Government could descend to this wicked antics against the workers of Ekiti State, just because of an election which would eventually be lost by the party’s candidate.
FAYEMI: I challenge Fayose to meet me in a debate and let us discuss what we did with the resources that we held in trust for Ekiti; that way, we will know who is a better manager of Ekiti resources or who is a prodigal son
“We advise the Federal Government to have a rethink on this draconian step, because it’s retrogressive and it will not only be counter-productive but add to the indices of bad governance which Nigerians are familiar with in the APC government since its inauguration, both at the centre and in some states where the party holds way.”
According to the Fayose-led government, Fayemi was pursuing political goals and not the welfare of Ekiti Citizens.
“If Fayemi had the interest of the workers at heart, he ought not to be part of any shenanigan that would affect the welfare of people in the civil and public service in the state,” the state’s PDP alleged.
But in a swift reaction, Fayemi described Fayose’s excuse for not being able to pay workers’ salaries as lame, noting that Ekiti, like all other states, have been collecting all the federal allocations
due to it.
Fayemi said the Fayose government should explain to the Ekiti people where it kept hungry workers’ salaries and dying retirees’ pension benefits, having collected two tranches of bailout funds, two tranches of Paris Club refund, as well as Budget Support Funds. He further challenged Fayose on a debate on these.
However, Fayemi stated that the state had retrogressed sharply in the last four years he left office, adding that his bid to run for the governorship seat was motivated by the need to “rescue Ekiti people from bad governance, want, hunger and poverty.”
He stated that after he left office, the state’s fund reports were not disclosed to the public, which meant something was fishing.
“Fayose should make public the state’s IGR figure, which reached N600 million monthly but is now shrouded in
secrecy.
“I challenge Fayose to meet me in a debate and let us discuss what we did with the resources that we held in trust for Ekiti; that way, we will know who is a better manager of Ekiti resources or who is a prodigal son,” Fayemi riposted.
