Ayo Fayose: The myth surrounding his life

Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose has been let off the hook of impeachment following the successful inauguration of the fifth Assembly which composition is hundred percent of the Peoples Democratic Party. OLUSESAN LAOYE reports

Ekiti State governor, AyodeleFayose has finally survived the threat by a faction of the state House of Assembly to remove him from office the second time, with the inauguration of the new state Assembly who are hundred percent Peoples Democratic Party {PDP}members. The new legislators have pledged to work with Fayose and at the same time warned that they would not be his stooge. Although the newly inaugurated members indicated that they would not be rubber stamp legislators to Fayose, political observers posited that their actions at the chambers of the Assembly when they prostrated for him betrayed their earlier statement.

Fayose who has been operating under turbulent condition since he was sworn in last year was full of joy when at the end of the day he survived the crisis posed by the 19 All Progressives Congress, APC, legislators who threatened him with impeachment up till their last day in office. The impeachment attempts on Fayose had come in different forms, but the one that was very pronounced and looked as if it would be carried out was the last week of the APC legislators in office, but Fayose did everything to forestall the entry of the legislators, who have been in exile for the past six months.

The last moves of the 19 legislators actually gave Fayose and his team sleepless nights because they had the notion that since the government has changed at the centre, it would have serious effect on them because the cover of former President Goodluck Jonathan which he enjoyed prevented the APC lawmakers from removing him. The impression Fayose had as soon as MuhammaduBuhari became the President-elect was that he would give the APC legislators the backing to remove him given his anti-Buhari campaigns. This impression became heightened immediately Buhari was sworn in on May 29, and the lawmakers renewed their move to impeach him from office.

As a result, there was tension in the state and Fayose had to do everything to stop them from coming to Ekiti. For two weeks the entry points to Ekiti was barricaded by trailers and vehicles, while stern looking security men manned the front of the state House of Assembly. It was a hectic period for the people of Ekiti State as there were fears of a possible state of emergency being declared. Both people in government, loyalist and the entire people of the state had to keep praying for peace and for Fayose not to be impeached. Even the traditional rulers in the state had to intervene and sent special appeal message to the exile 19 lawmakers to forgive Fayose and give peace a chance for Ekiti state to move forward.

To douse the tension in the state and appease the APC lawmakers, Fayose who had been adamant on the payment of the entitlement of the APC lawmakers flew a kite about the matter and announced that he had paid their entitlements. This generated controversies between him and the lawmakers who claimed that the governor only deceived them and that nothing was paid. The former speaker, Wale Omirin went on air to challenge Fayose to show evidence that they signed for the cheques which Fayose said they had received.

Although the battle between Fayose and the APC lawmakers appears to have been over as he has succeeded in installing his own men in the state House of Assembly, House of Representatives and the Senate, the entire APC in the state may not have sheath their swords as the latest signs immediately after Fayose inaugurated the Assembly, indicated that the battle is not yet over for him in the state.

Right from the period Fayose came to Nigeria from London where he was doing his business, to contest the governorship election in the state in 2003, with the way the man called ”spotless” emerged to beat the local and foreign based contestants to clinch the ticket of the PDP kept many wondering. He eventually contested the governorship and defeated the incumbent governor, Niyi Adebayo to the surprise of many stakeholders.

Another high point was when he was removed by the state House of Assembly under the surpervision of former president OlusegunObasanjo, on allegation of corruption. He went on exile for a brief period before he returned to start politics again and to contest for the Ekiti Central senatorial seat on the platform of the defunct ACN, but was denied the ticket before he went to the Labour Party to contest but he lost. After this election, people never bothered to look critically at the man Fayose, and perhaps if he had won the senatorial election then, what has manifested in his life now and the question of the myth behind him would not have been on the lips of the people.

His emergence as the Governor of Ekiti state, gave room for this question to keep ringing and constantly being asked. The way he sailed through his present position baffled many people. He too declared that he did not know that he would emerge the governor of the state this time around despite the opposition mounted against him both within and outside the party. Since he came back as the governor in a mysterious manner, and the way he has wriggled out of trouble showed that there is something extra ordinary about the man called Fayose.

What is of note about the man Fayose is his parental back ground, being the son of a Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Pastor in Ibadan, who many believe had the favour of God? Apart from this, his wife Feyisetan is a devoted Christian who people say has been interceding on behalf of the husband in prayer is another pillar of support for Fayose. She is the one who saw the first coming of her husband as the governor of the state, and also prophesied his removal.

The wife is the one who God showed his second coming, which she confessed to at a thanks giving service in celebration of his victory in the hands of the 19 APC lawmakers.

What he went through in the hands of the lawmakers and the way he scaled through made the legal icon, Aare AfeBabalola who waded into the crisis to describe him as ”Peter AyodeleFayose an energetic, courageous, fearless and popular politician.” He further pointed out that Foyose kept hope alive even with his being harassed and in an unhealthy environment. According to the founder of AfeBabalola University, Ado-Ekiti there was something about Fayose which made him a special breed. He said that he surprised the people during the governorship election when he won in all the 16 local governments of Ekiti state, and also won all the seats in the state House of Assembly, House of Representatives and the three Senatorial seats in the state for his political party the PDP.

But whatever may be the case, Fayose was sure that he would triumph over evil and that he would complete his tenure this time around. He said that he has no other thing than God and prayer. He said he survived by divine intention. ”I have conquered my enemies” but with a strong warning that any further uprising  would lead to premature political death of who ever instigates it.

Also his Chief Press Secretary, Mr.IdowuAdelusi told Hallmark that now that the Governor has been able to subdue his detractors, he would now have time to concentrate on governance and fulfill all what he promised the people of the state when he was seeking their mandate. According to Adelusi, the period of the crisis with the APC lawmakers really disturbed the activities of government, adding that the period should have been used to develop the state. He stressed that now that it is all over, the governor is now ready to move on despite the lean resources of the state.

He pointed out that Fayose survived because he has the people with him. According to him the support which the present PDP government is having in the state is not because of Fayose, but because they believe in their votes and what the man they elected could do for them.

Meanwhile the development and the altercations between the APC and the PDP in the state is brewing up another tension despite the fact that the government is now at rest that it has overcome the problem it faced for seven months. The APC has said that the inauguration of the 5th Assembly by Fayose was for his personal gains and not in the interests of the people of the state.

Mr.TaiwoOlatunbosun, the state publicity Secretary of the APC said that those in the present state Assembly were handpicked by Fayose, describing them as miscreants who got there through ballot snatching and use of force.

He pointed out that the fact that the new lawmakers are calling Fayose their father does not mean that Fayose at the end of the day would not show them his true colour, which he had started by putting a curse on them that whoever brings up such uprising as the one he went through or whoever works against his interest would meet premature political death.

”To us in APC this statement was an indication that the man AyodeleFayose can’t change and he would soon run into problem with the new lawmakers, because as far as an average Ekiti man is concerned, he would not want his rights to be impeded upon and if Fayose continue to lord himself on them, there is no way some of them would not revolt against him to stop the imposition on them.”

The PDP is however, not taking kindly to the statement of the APC, saying that the APC is now plotting to make Ekiti state ungovernable despite the fact that the people of the state have showed that they don’t want them again, after the failed impeachment move against Governor Fayose.

The acting publicity secretary of the PDP, Mr. Jackson Adebayo revealed that the APC has set up a strategic committee to destabilize the government of governor Fayose. He said that the committee was setup to fashion out a new plan after the attempt to impeach the governor failed.