Tag Archives: Ekiti State

Fayose Flags Off N5.7bn Flyover In Ekiti, Vows Not To Abandon Any Project

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Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, on Tuesday flagged off the construction of N5.7 billion worth 1.2 kilometres flyover in Ado Ekiti, with a promise that all projects awarded by his government will be completed before the expiration of his tenure.

 

Speaking while flagging off of the project in Ado Ekiti, Fayose said the project will be delivered within 24 months.
Fayose, who described the project as the first of its kind in the state, which forms part of his efforts to decongest Ado Ekiti metropolis for effective traffic orderliness, said the flyover will begin at Fajuyi area and terminate at Ojumose.

 

He warned the contractor against unnecessary delay, saying the project must be delivered within the stipulated time.

 

“This was a project that has been my heart desire during my first term. I nearly awarded it before that unfortunate incident happened. I saw it as a landmark achievement because you can’t get it in Ondo or Osun State.

 

“I have promised that I won’t abandon any project for my successor. I shall complete every project that I awarded, because I don’t want to leave any burden behind.
“Whatever we do will remain in our name, particularly the physical project and that is why I charge the traditional rulers to appeal to politicians to give peace a chance, because it is only under an atmosphere of peace that you can witness development.

“I am not going to limit physical construction to road alone, I will soon flag off the construction of ultra-modern High Court complex with modern facilities for effective and efficient administration of justice.

“Some of you will ask me how am I going to achieve this in view of the poor allocations to the state, but don’t worry, don’t be hopeless.

“I rely on the little taxes and rates to be paid by citizens to be able to boost our IGR to do all these. With your supports, all these shall be achieved”, he said.

The Chairman, Ekiti State Council of traditional rulers, Oba Samuel Adedapo and the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo, who praised the governor for his zeal to develop Ekiti, appealed to politicians to give peace a chance to forestall unnecessary crisis that could cause distraction.

They said Ekiti will continue to appreciate the efforts of governor Fayose to develop the state in spite of the parlous state of the economy.

 

Credit : Daily Post

Ekiti Farmers Protest Fayose’s Airport Project Site

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Farm owners in Aso-Ayegunle in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday staged a protest against the 4,000 hectares of land earmarked for the building of the proposed Ekiti Airport by Governor Ayodele Fayose.

 

 

The farmers, who berated the state government for destroying their crops, also accused the state government of not compensating them since initiating the project.

 

 

They described the destruction of their cocoa trees and other valuable crops by government without prior notice ‘as “wicked and callous.”

Asking the government to relocate the airport project to the state forest reserve, they alleged that some of their members had died from shock because of the government’s insensitivity to their plight.

 

 

But the Commissioner for Information, Lanre Ogunsuyi, said the government had no plan to relocate the airport, saying all land in the state belong to government.

 

 

He said, “The project was conceived a long time ago. That land belongs to the state government. Some people are just willing to throw spanner in the wheel of progress, but we would ensure the project is a success.

 

 

“The aggrieved people have avenues for channelling their grievances. We don’t have to hold a meeting and turn anyone into a thin god in the process. If anybody wants to speak with government, there are 14 ministries they can go to.

 

 

“We have a tradition of paying compensation and we would do that. But there is no way government would surrender its power to some people. The land belongs to the government.”

 

 

The spokesman for the farmers, Mr. Ojo Awe, called on the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, to speak with all relevant authorities to stop the airport project.

 

 

Faulting the state government over its action, Awe argued that the Land Decree of 1976 empowering the government to appropriate land for overriding public interest still mandates that there should be a dialogue with owners before implementation.

 

 

Credit : Punch

Buhari Isn’t God, I’ll Continue To Say The Truth – Fayose

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Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, has reiterated his position to continue to tell he truth to the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), noting that ”The President is not God, but only leader of our country for a period of time.”

 

Speaking with journalists on Friday, after the Ekiti State House of Assembly declared him the ‘leader’ of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Fayose affirmed that as a member of the opposition, he was not expected to be celebrating the government in power.

 
“For what?” he exclaimed, adding, ”I will tell them the truth. Opposition helps government of the day, helps Nigerians, to keep them on track. Opposition helps to check dictatorship, opposition helps to check oppression. My being here as governor, my voice today will remain by the grace of God.

 
“I’m not like somebody going underground for reasons of harassment; it is only shameful that the government of the day is after shadows. You want to be in power, you are in power; you have charged virtually all PDP governors to court, are we saying no APC governor is corrupt in this country? But for me, I’m not going into that; I’m not going to descend into that arena.”

 
”For everything I say, I say it in good conscience. When I was criticising the President before he became President of Nigeria, they thought I will be quiet after. Tomorrow, if I find him wanting, I will tell him. The President is not God, he’s only leader of our country for a period of time,” said Fayose.
Asked if his declaration by the state House of Assembly as leader of the opposition was in preparation for a bigger position, Fayose said: “I am not interested in anything. Even this one that I am serving as governor, it is the will of God for me. There is nothing to vie for.

 
“By morals, it can’t be the turn of Yoruba, if truly we are into rotation and for me, I’m not vying for anything. I’m not equally going to the Senate. Senate is what most governors will rush to; I’m not going. I won’t contest for Senate. So anybody expressing anything for me is wasting his time because I’m not going to beg for any office.

 
“I have gotten to this position because God wants me there and I’m not going to be part of any promotion to position me. No, I still have three years ahead of me. Who knows what will happen in three years time; who knows what will happen in two years time; who knows where Nigeria itself would be. So, we should all strive for the survival of this country first and forget about positioning yourself.

 
“Great leaders don’t talk about their political placement, they talk about the country’s placement, where the country would be at the appropriate time. But on the issue of what I stand for and what I say, I have no apologies and with all due respect, I have been like this from time immemorial and I have no apologies because this country belongs to all of us.

 
“This weekend, I will be 55; a lot of people died when they were 10 years old. Some died when they were 20, some when they were 30 or 40 but I’m 55. If I die today, my children will still entertain guests at my burial, you understand. They will equally leverage on my achievements for consolation. Gowon was president of this country at 28 or 29, Obasanjo was president of Nigeria at 37. Today, I’m still battling with the office of a governor and those people we are talking about are still talking in the public after being 80 or 90 years of age.”

 
Still on Obasanjo, with whom he has been on war path with over the years, Fayose said: “The likes of Obasanjo were looming larger than life at that time, where are they now? They are at Ota; they are begging for relevance now. They go to the villa everyday to beg for ministerial nominees. I was watching him in the papers, whether he was prostrating for Buhari or he was exchanging compliments, I don’t know. I can’t explain it. At certain times, you must know when to switch off; you must know when to turn off and you must know when to go to bed.

 
“For me, whether they call me leader of opposition or not, whether they call me Ayo Fayose, I’m not even chairman of PDP governors’ forum and I’m not desperate for anything, but you can’t take away my voice. You can throw away my word but you can’t throw me away.

 
“I remain resolute, I stand by the common man of this country. Tomorrow, Nigerians will appreciate me. It is in turbulent times that we know the strength of character of a man – in turbulent times like this – and it is shame on PDP leaders decamping because of relevance. They should keep their relevance; whatever we do – good or bad – will live after us.”

 

Credit : Vanguard

Why I built Ekiti Govt House –Fayemi

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Former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on Tuesday, debunked reports that he ran the economy of his state aground, while he served as governor.

 

Fayemi, one of the 10 ministerial nominees screened by the Senate today, said he governed Ekiti with transparency and accountability.

 

Responding to a question asked him by Sen. Olusola Adeyeye (APC Osun Central) to clarify newspaper reports that he left Ekiti in debt, after spending too much money on the Ekiti Govt House, Fayemi said they were all rumours, stating that the government house was built with just N2.5 billion.

 

The ex-governor said being one of the youngest states in Nigeria, without a government house for 19 years, the magnificent Government House he saw in Akwa Ibom, when he visited former Governor Godswill Akpabio, enticed him to embark on the project to give Ekiti State, a befitting Government House.

 

Fayemi added that the controversial N50 million bed in the government house wasn’t purchased at that price.

 

According to him, none of the beds in the government house cost above N1.5 million.

 

He was also asked what he had to say about the challenges in the nation’s education system of which he noted that enrolment, particularly in the North was still a problem bedeviling the sector.

 

He stated that the National Universities Commission, NUC, cannot regulate and operate at the same time, adding that, “We need to look at our curriculum, we need to look at teachers’ quality. We need to make public education attractive.”

 

He was also tasked on what he feels can be done about reforms in the nation’s foreign policy, poverty eradication, revenue generation for the government and his plans for the security of the nation. Fayemi, however, wowed the Senators with his wealth of experience as he answered their questions chronologically.

 

At the end of the rigorous screening, which lasted for about 50 minutes by the Senate to be confirmed as Minister, the former governor was asked to take a bow.

 

 

 

Credit: Vanguard

Ekiti Assembly members reject pay cut, want salary increase

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The Ekiti State House of Assembly has rejected the proposal by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission for the slash of salaries and emoluments of members of the legislature, both at federal and state levels.

The assembly took the position on Monday while assessing its activities in the last 100 days.

Speaker of the House, Kola Oluwawole, said he had expected RMAFC to review salaries and allowances of members upward to encourage them to do more work rather than slashing it.

“I expect the RMAFC to even jack up the salaries so that we will be able to do more projects in our constituencies,” the Speaker sad. “We want the Federal Government to increase our allowances and benefits , because we are the closest to the masses, particularly the poor ones , rather than thinking of pay cut.”

The Chairman of the Commission, Elias Mbam, had indicated recently that lawmakers and other political office holders would get a slash of their current pay.

He said the review became necessary because many government agencies, states and local governments had been struggling to pay salaries as a result of the sharp drop in oil price.

According to Mr. Mbam, the downward review of the remuneration did not start with the present administration as the commission had started the review process since last year.

 

 

–Premium Times

APC lambasts Fayose over proposed airport project

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The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has described the planned airport project by Governor Ayodele Fayose as a drain pipe to siphon money from Ekiti State treasury.

It said the promotion of elite project, while neglecting initiatives for the growth of local economy for the masses of the agrarian state, was “insensitive, wicked and selfish.”

The party noted that the promoter of the project had no motive other than the “characteristic flight of the state funds” in such capital projects that had little or no hope for the local economy.

The Publicity Secretary of the APC, Taiwo Olatunbosun, in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, alleged that the governor had, in a desperate move, embarked on begging and cajoling some first class traditional rulers with mouth-watering offers to support “this wasteful venture.

“Of what economic sense and use is an airport to the economy of Ekiti when the Akure Airport is less than one hour drive to Ado Ekiti? What has been the positive economic impact of the Akure airport on the economy of Ondo State, which has hundreds of big industries compared to Ekiti with none?”

Olatunbosun wondered why the governor could not learn anything on the poor state of Ibadan Airport in that highly industrialised city.

“The Ekiti airport project estimated to cost a whopping N17 billion is the most economically unviable project at this period considering how Fayose daily laments that the state has no money.

“To even think about such a needless and wasteful project has shown Fayose as very insensitive to the plight of the common man in Ekiti.

“A governor that prefers an airport that risks lack of patronage to infrastructure development that will be beneficial to the people is a governor that doesn’t care about the welfare of his people.

“It shows that Fayose can never change his profligate tendencies because this is the same way he embarked on the needless poultry project that gulped N1.3 billion over which he is still standing trial in court,” he said.

The APC spokesman also criticised the tax regime and cancellation of empowerment schemes by the governor, saying they were contrary to the promise he made during electioneering campaigns.

He added that with the state’s lean purse, the airport project would foreclose any hope for infrastructure development.

Only a few days ago, the governor held a meeting with stakeholders involved in the project and those present, including a renowned lawyer, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), and a former Aviation Minister, Mr. Tunde Omotoba, urged him to go on with the project.

They opined that at least a standard airstrip should be built in the state to open it up for further economic activities.

Fayose, at different fora, had said his government was committed to the project, promising that the project would be completed before the end of next year.

He said a fund raiser would be held in Lagos, where corporate bodies and individuals would be able to contribute to the project.

-Punch

Police withdraw contempt suit against Ekiti deputy speaker

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An Ado Ekiti Chief Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday struck out the contempt charge against the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr Segun Adewumi.

The News Agency of Nigeria, reports that the case was struck out following the prosecution’s application (nominal complainant) to withdraw the charge against Adewumi.

Consequently, Chief Magistrate Idowu Ayenimo discharged and acquitted the lawmaker.

“Following the withdrawal of the charge, dated May 6, 2013 bordering on intentional disrespect to judicial proceedings and pursuant to Section 73 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, this case is hereby struck out.

“The accused is hereby discharged and acquitted,” he ruled.

Reacting to the acquittal, Adewumi lauded the stand of the court, describing the judiciary as the last hope of the common man.

NAN reports that Adewumi was arraigned on a charge of intentional disrespect to court proceedings on May 6, 2013.

He was alleged to have used his mobile phone to take a shot of the All Progressives Congress Chairman in Ekiti, Mr Jide Awe, while in the dock.

The prosecution was led by the Officer in charge of the Legal Department, State Police Command, Femi Falade, while the accused was represented by Mr. Bunmi Olugbade, member of the State Judicial Service Commission.

(NAN)

Ekiti students to pay N1,000 education levy per term

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As part of the decisions arrived at during the recently held Education Summit in Ekiti State, students of public secondary schools are now to contribute a token of N1, 000 per term towards educational development in the State while a sum of N500 proposed for primary school is yet to be approved by the State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose.

 

The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Jide Egunjobi, who made this known in a release issued in Ado-Ekiti Tuesday, said all stakeholders in the education sector, including parents and teachers consented to the introduction of the Education Development Levy.

 

He said: “Before now, secondary school students were paying N100 as PTA levy, N300 for Extra Lesson and N600 as Examination Fee while primary school students were paying N100 as PTA levy, N300 for Extra Lesson and N200 as Examination fee, making N600 per term.”

 

Apart from the Educational Development Levy (EDL) of N1,000, secondary school students will pay N500 as Parents Teachers Association (PTA) levy, N600 for Examination, N300 for Extra Lesson, making N2,400 per term while it is proposed that Primary school students will pay N100 as PTA levy, N100 for Extra Lesson, N100 for Examination, making a total of N800 per term.

 

There are 178,263 students in the 879 public primary schools; 48,960 in Junior Secondary Schools and 55,677 in Senior Secondary Schools in Ekiti State, making a total of 282,900.

 

The Commissioner for Education, who said the levies were not new in the state, added that; “Students of public schools in Ekiti were paying PTA, Examination and Extra Lesson levies before Governor Fayose assumed office.”

 

He reiterated government’s commitment to the restoration of the state’s lost glory in the education sector, saying “Ekiti State recorded 36.5 percent performance in WAEC this year as against 25 percent last year and that only happened because strict measures were introduced and teachers were greatly motivated and encouraged.

 

“It should be recalled that in 2003 when Governor Fayose assumed office then, Ekiti State was number 35 in WAEC and by the time he left office in 2006, the State was number eight. That feat can still be recorded and we are working assiduously towards returning the State’s lost glory.”

 

PM News

Don’t accept Fayose’s rams, Imams warn Muslims

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League of Imams and Alfa in Ekiti State on Tuesday ordered Muslims in the state to reject Sallah rams or any other food items for Sallah celebration from Governor Ayodele Fayose.

They said this became necessary over what they described as the deliberate marginalization of Muslim members by Fayose.

At a meeting of the Muslim clerics held at Anser- Udeen Central Mosque Odo-Otu, Ado-Ekiti, the Imams said Muslims had almost zero slot in the appointments of commissioners and other officials by the governor Fayose.

They added that efforts to get the governor redress the lopsidedness were fruitless.

According to a statement endorsed by the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affair (NSCIA) and National Council of Muslim Youth Organisation (NACOMYO), it was resolved that no Muslim in the State should collect rams and other food items if presented to them in any form by the government.

The statement, which was signed by the leaderships of the Imams and Alfa said, any Muslim that collected such rams or food items under any guise had taken Haram (unlawful) and that the punishment of the Almighty Allah awaited the person. (Quran 71 verse 28).

#JKFeedback: Why Kayode Fayemi should continue his N549,000/month job in Ekiti – zebbook

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John Kayode Fayemi

John Kayode Fayemi

The Nigerian social media space is a volatile and very unpredictable community and those who saw N549,000 trending on the afternoon of Saturday 8th February would have had a hard time knowing where that figure came from. However, trending alongside this figure were the hashtag #JKFeedback and the official twitter handle of the Ekiti State Government @ekitistategov and keen observers were able to connect the dots.

#JKFeedback was an interactive session between Ekiti State Governor, John Kayode Fayemi, and prominent bloggers and activists from across Nigeria. Ogunyemi Bukola used the opportunity of the no-holds-barred discussion to ask the governor how much his salary is, and for the first time in Nigeria’s history, an elected public official declared his earnings. JKF, as he’s popularly called, said he earns N549,000 monthly without allowances as he lives in the government house and enjoys all the amenities for free.

That declaration threatened to overshadow other happenings at #JKFeedback, but what turned out to be the first truly independent assessment of any government by the Nigerian public was much more than that.

I got the email invite to participate in #JKFeedback from Funmi Ajala of the Digital Media Unit of Ekiti State. Taking bloggers and activists from across the country to Ekiti to assess JKF’s works initially sounded inappropriate. The people of Ekiti voted him, not us, and as such they should have the final say on whether their governor has performed well or not. The people of Ekiti do have the final say on this matter, but not the only say. Indeed, part of our job in Ekiti was to sample opinions of the people there on how well they think JKF has performed.

We got to Ikogosi Warm Spring and Resorts on Thursday, 6th February, and if anyone said you shouldn’t blow your own trumpet, Fayemi has not heard, or does not agree. Right there on the bed in each room were bags containing print materials detailing the achievements of his three and a half year old administration. On Friday, we went on a tour of Ekiti State, visiting 12 out of the 16 local governments in the state. We were taken to sites of completed and ongoing projects embarked upon by the administration, visiting schools, hospitals, dams and farms while assessing the quality of the roads and other infrastructure across the state. Saturday was the discussion proper, and the governor came three hours late and left earlier than he should have.

At his inauguration on October 16, 2010, Kayode Fayemi promised the people of Ekiti State to “democratize governance, modernize agriculture, improve on infrastructure, promote free and qualitative education towards the development of functional human capital, provide free health and social security to the disadvantaged sectors of the state, ensure industrial development, promote tourism and sustainable development and promote gender equality and women’s empowerment”. This 8-point agenda forms the basis of my assessment of his administration.

On the democratization of governance, two things stand out for me. One, Ekiti State senators pool their constituency project funds, N200 million each, to finance specific projects in the three senatorial districts of the state. N600 million every year for the past three years has ensured the execution of projects in tourism, agriculture and water provision, one of which is the provision of 1,700 hectares of irrigated land in conjunction with UNDP and FAO. I have not heard of any other state in Nigeria in which this is happening. Also, I am impressed by how diligently local governments have kept to the governor’s mandate of constructing at least 5km of roads every year. This has ensured the construction of at least 15km of local roads in each of the 16 local governments in Ekiti State since Fayemi became governor. Also, from our tour guide on Friday, to the commissioners who briefed us on Saturday, everyone had insight into the vision, and facts and figures on the achievements, of Fayemi’s administration.

On the modernization of agriculture, Fayemi said his vision is to “revive cocoa plantations to make Ekiti again a world leader in cocoa production; make agriculture contribute 50% of internally generated revenue; have 20,000 Ekiti youths trained and employed in mechanized agriculture by 2014.” I did not see a single cocoa plantation in Ekiti during my stay there, but records have it about 860,000 cocoa seedlings are being cultivated across the state. I visited cassava plantations and according to the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, Egghead Odewale, the Youth Commercial Agriculture Development (YCAD) programme is in full swing but we were unable to get to any of the farm sites in which 250 young people under the scheme are employed. Agriculture equipment worth N57 million distributed to rice farmers, purchase to 20 tractors at N150 million, provision of micro-credit facilities to over 200 farmers are initiatives executed by the government.

On improvement of infrastructure, 902 federal, state and local government roads have been rehabilitated, each local government has constructed 5km of road every year for three years, and the state government has constructed about 1200km of roads since 2010. I should add that Ekiti State has arguably the best road network in Nigeria and in our tour of 12 local governments, we didn’t come across more than 3 bad patches of road while massive construction of bridges is ongoing in different parts of the state to replace the narrow and dangerous ones inherited by the Fayemi administration. Also, 100 transformers have been distributed to communities and N600 million have been goven to 176 communities to execute different projects.

On the promotion of free and qualitative education towards the development of functional human capital, Governor Kayode Fayemi’s administration has renovated all the 183 secondary schools in Ekiti State and has procured and distributed over 30,000 Samsung solar laptops to students and 18,000 to teachers of senior secondary schools in the state. Also, Ekiti has the best pay package for teachers in public service in Nigeria while those in the rural area get 20% of the basic salary more. Bursary funds for students of higher institutions of the state has been increased from N5,000 to N10,000.

On the provision of free health and social security, we were able to visit the site of the new general hospital in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital and the Cancer Diagnosis Centre built in honour of Mrs Funmilayo Olayinka, the late Deputy Governor of the State. About N100 million has been spent on medical assistance to needy patients, and another N38 million on indigent patients and physically challenged people.

On tourism and industrial development, I first visited Ikogosi Warm Spring in 2006 as a 200 Level OAU student before going back there last year and then over the weekend, and I am impressed by Kayode Fayemi’s vision and tenacity in turning what was essentially a bush into one of the most exotic holiday places in Nigeria at a cost of N1.5 billion. We were not opportuned to visit any industrial site in Ekiti State during our tour.

On the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, it was refreshing to know that under Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti State has made strict laws against domestic abuse and violence against women, the state has halfway houses, a family court and other support systems for victims of rape and other forms of abuse, while the rights of widows and the girl child are protected. Ekiti State is also the first, and perhaps still the only, state in Nigeria to maintain a register for sex offenders.

However, much more needs to be done. I am unimpressed by the state of primary health facilities in Ekiti and I would have expected Governor Fayemi to issue a mandate to local governments in this regard as he did with roads. I have it on good authority that a single doctor oversees 6 primary health facilities in Erijiyan and Ikogosi, and that doctor is there on youth service. There are cracks in the walls of the Funmilayo Olayinka Cancer Centre which was opened in October last year, suggesting shoddy work by the contractor.

Also, Governor Fayemi was defiant on the effective execution of his laptop initiative, but as Opemipo Adebanjo noted, there is a school in Erijiyan where the laptops are gathering dust in the principal’s office and the teachers claim they weren’t trained on the use of these gadgets, and the students do not know how to use Microsoft Word.

In agriculture, the development of irrigation sites at Ero, Egbe and Itapaji dams should be given more attention. More needs to be done about the vision of making Ekiti one of the world’s leading producer of cocoa. Also, more attention should be given to the production of cash crops like oil palm and cashew through YCAD. This should then roll into the industrial development agenda through the establishment of processing plants for agricultural produce. There are only 6 women in the 29 member state executive council, in a state where women are the majority. This is totally unacceptable and I hope the governor makes good his promise to Rinsola Abiola on correcting the imbalance in his second term.

I am not swayed by Governor Fayemi’s attempt at turning my purely economic question on the disparity between the state’s IGR and monthly salary expenditure into an ideological battle between socialism and capitalism. While I commend his efforts at increasing IGR by more than 400%, from N140 million in 2011 to about N600 million in 2013, I am worried that he has failed to balance welfarism with economic sustainability. The sad truth is that Ekiti State cannot pay its workforce and finance its welfare and social security programmes until Abuja credits its account with the monthly N3 billion allocation. I hope Governor Fayemi’s efforts at attracting investments into the state through the provision of tax breaks and other initiatives as stated in the Agusto Report yield positive results over the next couple of years to enable the state attain financial independence.

Egghead Odewale wouldn’t agree with me that Kayode Fayemi’s administration has focused more on infrastructure than any other item on its 8 point agenda but that is the reality I observed. I will take the positives from that by saying Fayemi, by the provision of good roads, has opened up Ekiti for economic development, especially through agriculture and tourism.

I am impressed by how prudent and transparent Kayode Fayemi has been in the execution of projects in Ekiti State. Contracts are awarded at very modest and verifiable amounts, an example being the laptop project in which each unit costs about N60,000. Also, while I await the confirmation of his pay slip, I salute his bravery in openly declaring his salary and that of his commissioners. And I hope he has not joined the league of corrupt Nigerian politicians who eat their yam with palm oil from public pots. It would be heart-breaking for some of us who see him as an exemplary leader in the rot prevalent in Nigeria’s political space.

Kayode Fayemi has done well over the past three years and I urge the good people of Ekiti to give him a chance to continue the good work he has started by voting him as their governor for a second term. I urge them to be vigilant and hold him accountable at all times. As he goes about his campaign, visiting cities, towns and villages in the state, he will make promises and commitments, and they must hold him to these from day one of his second tenure.

My name is Ogunyemi Bukola (@zebbook), and I endorse John Kayode Fayemi for a second term as governor of Ekiti State.