During his tenure as governor of Ekiti State and Chairman of Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi had a controversial relationship with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his presidential ambition.
Fayemi and his supporters in the state were not in favor of Tinubu’s aspirations, which led to the infamous APC Tokan tokan. The group was made up of APC members who supported Fayemi’s presidential ambition while ostracizing those who were rooting for Tinubu.
When Tinubu visited Ekiti during his tour before the APC presidential election primary, not a single member of the Paul Omotoso-led APC Exco was allowed to honor his visit. They were not available to welcome him, as Fayemi ensured they became incommunicado.
Fayemi has been described as lucky in every sense of the word. Unassuming and extremely cunning, he maneuvered his way to power through the controversial Justice Salami’s Appellate Court and has since remained in the corridor of power. Even now that the tides seem to be against him, his current moves don’t portray him as one willing to let go or at least give others a chance.
While in office as governor of Ekiti State, Fayemi had a penchant for commissioning uncompleted projects with funfair. One of the most notorious examples is the phantom N2.5 billion beautification project, which was commissioned in the twilight of his first term.
Other uncompleted projects that were commissioned include the Cargo Airport that has not experienced the landing of a second airplane since it was commissioned in October 2022, Oba Adejugbe General Hospital which was commissioned without equipment and other materials, and the Bus Terminal at Old Garage, Ado Ekiti.
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As nothing can be hidden forever, especially in the civil service, facts emerged that Dr. Kayode Fayemi withdrew a whopping N1.3 billion from Ekiti Wema Bank account a day before leaving office, the same way he withdrew N2 billion from workers’ cooperative societies fund shortly before the end of his first term in office.
Though the people of Ekiti seem helpless in making Fayemi pay for his sins, the fact that such atrocious acts are being made public by those in the know is a pointer to the fact that a day of reckoning will definitely come.
A few days before his exit, Fayemi reportedly purchased three SUVs, one for himself, Ayodele Fayose and Adeniyi Adebayo, both former governors of the state, while the salary of workers and dilapidated roads were left unattended to. As a member of the APC, the same party that is at the center, Fayemi promised to offset six months’ salary owed to teachers by his predecessor but only paid two months despite the funds that accrued to Ekiti State via loans and monthly allocation from the federal government.
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It is public knowledge that Fayemi promoted disharmony within the rank and file of Ekiti Obas by employing divide and rule tactics and balkanization of communities in the state. Till date, the animosity brought about by the former governor’s ill-conceived action describes a people sitting on a keg of gunpowder.
One can only continue to pray that God bequeaths unto the Biodun Oyebanji administration the needed wisdom to ensure the fragile peace at hand does not go sour.
Until Fayemi stepped down a few hours before the APC presidential primary after seeing the handwriting on the wall, it is on record that he did all within his power as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to rubbish his prime benefactor.
