PETER AYODELE FAYOSE, a former governor of Ekiti State has been elected again to pilot the affairs of the state in the next four years in what has been described by the “man of the moment” as a landslide victory. The governor-elect, who spoke to journalists in a no holds barred interview shortly after his emergence, rolled out his plans for the good people of Ekiti, among other issues. Lagos Bureau Chief, MUYIWA OLALEYE was in Ekiti State throughout the period of the election. Excerpts:
Your Excellency, you must be elated over your victory today?
To God be the glory. I am grateful to those that made this day possible, the average man in Ekiti that has seen me through the eight years of wilderness. I am also grateful to the leadership of my party, PDP that produced me as the party’s flag bearer. As you are aware, I left the Government House on October16 2006 and by God’s timing I will be back to same Government House on October 16, 2014. I must confess that it has been no easy journey. You can imagine how tough it would have been for someone who left the office eight years ago to stage a comeback. The Independent National Electoral Commission and the Nigerian Police played active roles in ensuring that the election was free, fair and credible. To the people that contested with me at the party’s primary, I want to appreciate them and I will continue to do so for being magnanimous in giving me the necessary support. To Governor Kayode Fayemi, my brother Opeyemi Bamidele- a gentleman per excellence and other contestants that have accepted me as their governor, I want to thank them too. I am equally offering them a hand of fellowship in our government. I have just four years to spend here, so I will lead an all inclusive government. In the light of this, “there’s no victor no vanquished”. My brother Governor, Kayode Fayemi has called me to congratulate me. In return I will see him soonest for us to let the public know that we are together irrespective of our party affiliations. Ekiti belongs to us all; Governors come and go but Ekiti will remain forever. Indeed, I salute
Fayemi’s courage for accepting the wish of our people and his readiness to allow peace and love reign in our state. Fayemi has accepted the result as announced by INEC. He remains my brother and will forever remain one. He has contributed his quota like every other governor that had served in Ekiti state. He needs to be given the necessary respect that he deserves. For your information as I am talking to you now Kayode Fayemi remains my Governor until October 16, 2014 that he will hand over to me. We are best of friends, so the governance of Ekiti state belongs to all of us.
You dislodged Governor Fayemi in spite of the so-called power of incumbency- what magic did you apply sir?
There is no special magic. I believe that the will of God has just taken place in Ekiti State. I am a grass root politician, so I am closer to the people than the other contestants. The truth is that if this election is held “twenty times” with other things being equal, Ayodele Fayoshe will still emerge winner. I am not bragging about this but I am a grass root politician and it is the people that vote. Let me seize this opportunity to say that my removal in 2006 is still a mystery to the common man on the streets; but they never left me for one day because they believe in me. I want to equally let you know that I was left with these common men for eight years in the wilderness without money. I candidly want to advice every politician, who is in any position today to target the poor people of the society and always remember those people, who in one way or the other have assisted them get to their pinnacle because they, the politicians, surely will come back to meet them someday. These common people would not come to them for contracts all they want are basic things to improve their welfare. My case should be a lesson to everybody.
Sir, you seem to have so much confidence and prepared to take Ekiti out of the doldrums.
Yes, I am confident because I am convinced that the people wanted me back in office. The landslide victory we have achieved is my greatest confidence. I have the confidence in my people to rally round me because I am going to continue with all inclusive governance as I did it in my first tenure. The people are disillusioned as you have observed and that’s why they needed urgent change.
So you are ready to meet their expectations, because with the mass turn out today it seems their expectations are high?
I have verifiable records in my first tenure. In 2003 for instance nobody gave me a chance and you will recall that it was war of propaganda against my educational qualifications. They said that I am an HND holder and that Ekiti is a state of professors. Gentlemen of the press, does one need to be a professor to know when someone is hungry? Or to possess a doctorate degree to see that a road is dilapidated? These are physical things that even a school certificate holder can feel, hear and see. It doesn’t really matter whether one is a professor or not. I believe that life is a lesson; I have learnt a few new things now that I have been out of office; so by God’s grace this time around my performance will earn me the necessary leadership in Nigeria. The good works we could not finish in our first tenure we will accomplish now. The truth again is that, when you are good to the people they will remain loyal to you forever. So I want to do good so that I can remain the leader that I am in Ekiti State.
I like to be the Awolowo of our time. Though, chief Awolowo is long gone yet his legacies speak volume of him. His works are alive and they remain reference point in our political landscape. Chief Awolowo is highly respected even in death; I would like to be like him.
Most states are complaining of scare resources; the IGR is not commensurate with the task on ground and thus have resorted into borrowing. Will you therefore borrow to meet these high expectations of your people?
I have never borrowed to execute any project in my life and I will never. In my first tenure I did not borrow a dime to run Ekiti. I didn’t owe salaries, instead I cleared arrears before my arrival, I paid all contractors and I left over N10billion in the coffers of Ekiti state, when I left office yet I am an HND holder and not a professor. I did not need a doctorate degree certificate to do all that. By Gods grace we will not borrow still, we will manage what we get to serve our people.
Will you surpass Governor Fayemi’s achievements?
I do not think that am in a position to judge any leader’s performance. Fayemi has done his best to contribute his quota to Ekiti. The only thing constant is change, so change has come to Ekiti but Governor Fayemi remains my leader anytime any day. I have never insulted him in his entire tenure. The
office of a Governor is an exalted office and whoever that is elected into this office at all point in time by the wishes of the people must be respected. For me, Fayemi is a respectable leader in Ekiti and he will be given a chance to contribute in my administration.
In terms of performance, I will stick religiously to my campaign promises to my people. One of the urgent works I want to do in Ekiti is the flyover bridge at Fajuyi and Matthew junction to address the issue of traffic in the area.
I am going to embark on operation “Tarallun-tarred roads” in Ado, the state capital within two years. We have to work and take over from where Fayemi stopped to make sure Ekiti people get the best out of the state. Indeed, the governance of Ekiti State is neither about Fayemi nor Fayose. It is about the people who voted me into office. As much as I will be in charge from October 16, I do not want to play politics with governance of Ekiti state because politics kills while love unites and brings about democracy dividends.
Do you have any plan for Ekiti people in Diaspora?
Diaspora! I don’t have any plan for the Ekiti people in the Diaspora. My advice is that all the Ekiti people in the Diaspora should come back home to develop Ekiti state and take it to a greater height. We suffer brain drain in Nigeria, so it’s time for us to stop exporting our best hands abroad to develop other countries while ours suffer. Let our engineers, scientists, medical professionals, professors come home because change has come to Ekiti. As a grass root leader, I believe in local content; I have the best local professionals, who are artisans, so I will not waste my time going to search for “oyibo” to execute jobs in Ekiti State.
Do you plan to go for second term?
The constitution does not allow me to seek for a second term because you cannot take the oath of office three times. I have taken
one in 2003 and I will take the second one soon after which, I will find my way to my house. Again, I have chosen a deputy governor, who understands that we will both leave the government house together. God has not given me a deputy governor that will be playing politics in office to cause distractions. I do not want that again. My deputy governor knows that he is here to help me succeed in our service to our people.
Sir, it has become a trend in Nigerian politics that incumbents choose their successors; will you field a candidate when you will be leaving?
As I have been chosen by my people so also in the next election Ekiti people will choose their governor themselves. Nobody should expect me to impose my friend or loyalist on the people. It is dangerous to impose candidates, whom the people do not want on them. I have learnt some lessons, I will never do such. My contract with Ekiti people is to do my very best to make the state the best state in Nigeria in terms of infrastructural development, security, employment opportunities, food security and so on and so forth so that those in Diaspora will always be proud of their state.
What would be your strategy to combat the Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria including Ekiti State if you were the President?
Well, I am the governor that’s the difference. But I honestly do not think that there is anything I can do other than what the President is doing. The President has mobilised all stake holders to this cause and have extended appeals to the international community; it shows that he is not giving this war any lip service. Terrorism is a global menace and it is not peculiar to Nigeria, so our people must appreciate the effort of government in trying to bring this to an end soon. I can understand the agitation of our people which is that, such things were watched on television and read in pages of Newspapers about other countries, so even government never envisaged that it could be happening in our country. I think that because Nigerians are peace loving people that is why they want Boko Haram stamped out immediately and peace returns to the north east in particular. I want to say that government is doing her best, the challenges are enormous that every Nigerian should join force to assist government in any little way they can. Do you know that God can quench Boko Haram through fervent prayers?
Your Excellency, your last line.
I want to thank my people for giving their vote. I want to see a situation where I and Governor Fayemi will together go back and salute them to show the world that we are brothers and that there is really no winner or loser in this election
Lastly, I want to specially thank the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for his unflagging support and for my party PDP that gave me the ticket without which I will not be elected.