Ayodele Fayose is a former executive governor of Ekiti state. Elected in 2003, he was however removed from office midway into his tenure following a state of emergency declared by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo. He has remained a controversial personality even outside office. And at the recent primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, the former governor emerged his party’s candidate for the June 2014 governorship election. He told AYODELE ADEGBUYI in Ekiti shortly after his emergence that the victory is that of his fellow aspirants who ironically are aggrieved over the outcome of the exercise . Fayose also believes he has what it takes to defeat the incumbent Governor Kayode Fayemi, who is the APC candidate at the poll
Issues in your emergence as Ekiti PDP governorship candidate
Well, let us appreciate God for what He has done. I appreciate my fellow contestants too irrespective of what has happened. They too have put in their best. It is natural when you think things did not go the way you want, you could have a reaction. But it is not about what has happened up to this point, but how we can manage our tomorrow collectively. I just want to plead with them not to throw away the baby with the bath water. The PDP and ourselves, we are in the same boat, so that if we win, there will be enough to go round. I just want them to trust and believe in me. If there are things that have caused them to be angry, I plead with them not to be angry so that at the end of the day, it will not be a lose-lose situation. Their interests too will be protected. They should see me not as Fayose of eleven years ago when I first became governor. It is not that I did any bad thing then, but I am more mature, older and can see thing much differently now. I want to assure them that they will all be happy at the end of the day.
Reconciling with the aggrieved aspirants
God will help me. I will go to Abuja and see our leader. The ones we can’t resolve here, they will resolve it for us. Nobody wants to lose. I don’t want to lose and they don’t want to lose either. So we should team up together and salvage the party in the interest of the common people who are looking up to us. If it is Ayodele Fayose and my other contestants, we can all eat our daily meals. It is not as if we are paupers. But because we have a lot of people who are living below poverty level, we can try to improve their lot by not fighting. I acknowledge and appreciate them. I know that having spent reasonable time and finances and things didn’t go their way, I assure them that since it has gone my way, it has gone their way.
Preparation for the main election
You know I have been governor before, I am not a learner. I am not somebody who wants to learn. I know a bit of politics and I have good followership. All I am going to tell you is that I have been planning for the general election long time ago. You must see the end in view from the beginning if you want to succeed in life. Above all, like I said, I must humble myself, accommodate all these my brothers and sisters, accommodate even those who did not contest and let them have a sense of belonging, then we will collectively win.
The elite factor in your election
Obama did not win the whole of American votes. He won by simple majority. Everybody can’t like you. When you say the elites don’t like me, is it only the illiterates that will vote for me? The word elite is just a general term. To me, an elite is an educated person who knows his left from right. He is the one who is in the social circles of this world. They are with me. The only thing is that the so-called elites, some are in the other political party. They fight through their party. It is not as if the general blanket elites don’t like me. Anybody who says that is just a propagandist. It is a mere propaganda for people to say elites don’t like me. They just coin that and use as propaganda to sell dummy. Like some people will say that traditional rulers are not with me. These are fabricated lies that can’t stand the test of time. Above all, like I always say, Fayose of 11 years ago, is now well grown, well matured, more careful in the management of both human and material resources.
Ekiti is surrounded by APC governments and its expected that they will team up with incumbent governor to ensure his victory. Are you not worried about this?
You see, people call our National Chairman, Adamu Muazu a game changer. In this election, I will be the game changer. This election is a pointer to 2015. I am going to be the man of the game. I keep saying that I brought Fayemi, I asked Ekiti people to vote for Fayemi. I have told them now to remove their hands from Fayemi’s matter. Me that brought Fayemi will return him back to the people I took him from. By the grace of God, let us watch. You saw the situation today now after my announcement. The whole state went agog and that is not election day yet. Time will tell.
Why do you want to take over from Fayemi?
I don’t put my mouth in other people’s business. To me, he is a leader and he has done his best but his best is not good enough. Imagine that I left office over eight years ago and my name is still on the lips of every Ekiti man. It shows that the shoe I left behind, none of the governors has been able to wear it. That is why the people are still clamouring for my return. If I did not do well they will not be clamouring for my return. My mission is not to come and destroy or portray him in bad light. My mission is to serve and if it is about service, Fayemi has not done what Ekiti people expected him to do. That is why they are clamouring for my return. If I return, I will go back to those things that have kept the people with me.
Is there anything that you forgot to do that time that you are coming to do now or is there anything you did not do well that you want to correct?
Don’t forget that there has never been a gubernatorial election in Ekiti since I left office. The only one was the one that Fayemi contested in court which brought him to office. Two, I was removed from office. I did not finish my tenure. When you are still alive, you continue to struggle. I am struggling to take back what they took away from me illegally. Please note that I have been the only governor who defeated an incumbent in Ekiti. I defeated Niyi Adebayo who is the godfather of Fayemi. A man who has capacity to defeat the grandfather, how much less the grandson?
You said you did not complete your tenure, what is the position now, is it that you are impeached or you resigned?
If I was impeached then I am cleared now. This means that whatever they did that time is a nullity. I contested for the Senate last time and I was cleared. This one also, I have been cleared. Impeachment is not part of the qualification to be a governor.
There is this allegation by other contestants that when you came back to the PDP, you were not readmitted properly?
In my family, it is only me that can tell who is my son no other person can say it. I am telling you that the same PDP family was the one that gave me clearance. They came to conduct today’s primary election that I won. It is only the PDP who can say who is a member of the party. If I am not a member of the party, how would they have cleared me? If I am not a member of the party, they will not give me waiver and backdated it to 2011. Aside that, the constitution says you have to wait only two years before you can contest. I came back in 2011, this 2014. Head or tail, their argument is invalid.
What is message to the leader of your party, President Goodluck Jonathan
Anybody who can win election in Nigeria without his leader is wasting his time. I am not an independent candidate. I am a product of PDP. I am going to align myself with Jonathan. I will work in such a manner that he will support me and I will in turn champion his cause in 2015.
