Fayemi, Fayose in fresh war of words over July 14 election

Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has described former Governor Kayode Fayemi and a former governorship aspirant, Dayo Adeyeye, as politically spent forces who cannot contest and win any credible election in the state.
Fayemi and Adeyeye had on Tuesday, at a reception for Fayemi by Prince Adedayo Adeyeye Movement (PAAM), inveighed against Fayose, vowing to join forces to unseat the governor and his deputy and flag bearer of Peoples Democratic party (PDP) come July 14.
Fayemi had boasted that he would defeat the incumbent’s chosen successor and Fayose himself in the highly anticipated election.
The APC contender, who denied sacking any worker during his first tenure and an alleged plan to sack any civil servant if re-elected into office, stated that he had increased the salaries of teachers and others workers by 25% and 27.5% as incentives in form of rural special subjects allowances and other pecuniary benefits.
“We will uproot Fayose. His tenure has reduced us in the eyes of the world,” Fayose said.
“God is supporting us in this ambition and we will succeed. Our resolve now in Ekiti is to chase away Fayose.
Also speaking at the occasion, Adeyeye said: “This time we will uproot Fayose completely.
“We would have defeated him at the primary if had he had not come to the hall. It was that day I realized that Fayose is indeed a paper weight.
“I have made up my mind that we would chase Fayose away.”
Reacting on Thursday, Fayose said: “The duo are birds of the same feather, flocking together. They never won any credible election in their lives. So, they cannot appreciate a credible election.”
Fayose, who said this while addressing a large crowd of supporters in Iye-Ekiti in Ilejemeje local government area of the state, said the antecedents of the duo in politics suggested that they had no political base or relevance in the southwestern state.
In a statement on Thursday by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, in Ado-Ekiti, the governor stated that it was due to Fayemi’s lack of a political base that made him say federal might was what he and his party, APC, would deploy to win the July 14 poll.
“Has Fayemi ever won any election in Ekiti State? No. Even the primary election of the then Action Congress that preceded the 2007 general elections was manipulated to favour him,” the statement said.
“Many of the other aspirants left the party in protest against the way the primary was manipulated in his favour. Did he win the 2007 governorship election in the state? No. He came to office courtesy of the Salami-gate scandal. Even the recent APC primary, people know what happened. He always relies on election to be manipulated in his favour.
“Now, he has started boasting of using logistics to win. He thinks he can buy the conscience of Ekiti people. He will surely meet a dead end. He said he has an election fire, he has nothing. He is as cold as the nose of a dog. He is only pretending to be of the light now to deceive people. By the time he is soundly defeated in the poll, he will know that God hates the proud.
“President Buhari said he would come to witness his inauguration as Ekiti governor. This is a mere fantasy. The President is only engaged in wishful thinking,” he said.
On Adeyeye, the governor said the former minister had taken a wrong step which he would regret later.
He said Adeyeye also has no history of winning election.
“In 1999, as Alliance for Democracy (AD) candidate, he lost to PDP’s Gbenga Aluko. It was only Adeyeye that lost his senatorial election to a Peoples Democratic Party candidate in the South West. In the primary of the Action Congress in 2006, he lost and in protest he defected to the PDP. His profile has only been boosted with political appointments rather than election.
“He was appointed the Chairman of Ekiti SUBEB under a PDP-led government. By God’s grace, I was instrumental to his appointment as a minister under President Goodluck Jonathan. I later appointed him the Chairman of the Governing Council of Ekiti State University. I also got him the position of the National Publicity Secretary of our party. Now he is claiming to be what he is not,” he added.
The governor expressed confidence that the PDP candidate Kolapo Olusola would emerge victorious in the coming election.
-Sun