For Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose, the time has come to defend his ‘title’ as a political juggernaut. Unlike when he won the governorship election almost four years ago in a complete routing, and under circumstances believed to have been helped by the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, the scenario now, observers say, is a different kettle of fish.
Ojudu: In 2006, I chased Fayose out of this place. I took all the lawmakers who were members of the PDP to Lagos for two months. I kept them there and when I was ready, I brought them back to impeach him. In 2011, he contested against
Though Fayose has reached the constitutional bar of two terms, his anointed candidate, Professor Eleka Olusola, who is the deputy governor, may face a very stiff contest, especially from the candidate of opposition All Progressives Congress.
Among the forces before Fayose and his candidate is Babafemi Ojudu, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Political Matters.
The battle-line has been drawn between Ojudu, an APC governorship candidate, and Fayose, since the former made his ambition known to all, recently. And since then, Fayose, the ‘Ekiti State political oracle’, who has already anointed his deputy to succeed him, appears determined to frighten Ojudu out of the race, even before the APC conducts its governorship primary.
But in all, Ojudu looks bemused, as he believes that he is formidable enough to demystify Fayose and bring the governor’s anointed candidate on his knees.
Like a political combatant that he is known for, Fayose too has not allowed any moment to slip by as he came all out to impede Ojudu’s political moves. Last week, thugs suspected to be loyal to the governor gambolled round the streets of major communities in the state, hacking down all the billboards erected by Ojudu, and also tearing his posters with glee.
While Ojudu called for the arrest of destroyers of his posters and billboards whom he identified as Fayose’s ‘foot-soldiers’, the governor too called for the prosecution of Ojudu for “not paying requisite bills to the signage agency before erecting the boards.’
“In saner climes, Ojudu will be arrested for erecting billboards without approval of the Signage Agency and payment of necessary fees,” the governor averred.
Ojudu also swiftly hit back at him, accusing the governor of pasting campaign posters for his presidential ambition through the backdoor, in some parts of the country.
Ojudu asked Fayose how much he paid to relevant authorities in Abuja for the posters he reportedly pasted in the city and also for the ones “littering the whole of Ekiti.”
“Just the way you should have been arrested when you pasted posters in Abuja announcing your jaded ambition to be president. How much did you pay to the Abuja authorities?
Fayose: In saner climes, Ojudu will be arrested for erecting billboards without approval of the Signage Agency and payment of necessary fees
“Please tell the world how much you have paid for your surrogate posters littering the whole of Ekiti”, Ojudu responded.
Meanwhile, Senator Ojudu has vowed to chase Governor Fayose out of the state when he becomes governor.
The ex-lawmaker said Fayose “is going to be a factor of failure during the polls.”
He said he chased the governor out of the state in 2006 and successfully impeached him, adding that he also defeated him to become a senator.
Vowing to chase the governor away again, Ojudu said, “There is no longer stomach infrastructure again. It is a myth. Civil servants and local government officials have not been paid and you are talking of stomach infrastructure.
“If I am a civil servant and you have not paid me in 12 months, what is the stomach infrastructure in that?
“If truly, you are doing stomach infrastructure, you must regularly pay the workers so that they can feed themselves.
“This last Christmas, he didn’t even give them rice as he used to give them. This is a government of deceit, Fayose is just deceiving the people.
“Go around with him now, nobody hails him anywhere again. Since we got into Ekiti, he ran away. We told him ‘we have our billboards in town, come and remove one and let me see you’.
“In 2006, I chased Fayose out of this place. I took all the lawmakers who were members of the PDP to Lagos for two months.
“I kept them there and when I was ready, I brought them back to impeach him. In 2011, he contested against me for Senate, I defeated him. I had 68,000 votes; he had only 21,000 votes.
“So, forget about all these myths he sells to you out there. I am back again and I know I am the one who can chase him out. If there is anybody he fears, it is me. We will take care of him on July 14.
But when reminded that If Fayose who was outside government could defeat an incumbent, and what formula would he adopt to defeat Fayose’s candidate now that he is in power, Ojudu replied, “He is not contesting; but even if he is contesting, I am telling you now that I have defeated him many times over in the past.
“If he was an incumbent and I was not a politician then, yet, I was able to impeach him, how much more now?
“I am the one who is capable of defeating him and I will defeat him again. I am from Ado-Ekiti and if you have my constituency’s support, you will win election.
“From 1999, whoever Ado-Ekiti supports becomes the governor and whoever Ado-Ekiti does not support is taken out of Government House and I am from that community.
“That community has never had
