Gov. Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State

Governor Ayodele Fayose has explained why, despite that he belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his love for two leaders of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu and Osun governor, Rauf Aregbesola is unflinching. In an interview with The Punch, he said two Tinubu is a leader in his own right and that Aregbesola and he were (and still are) friends before the formation of APC.

According to Aregbesola: “Like I said, for every nation and region, there are leaders. Even, if I don’t like Asiwaju, he has attained an enviable height in his political endeavours. He has done so well economically. He has led his people to wherever they are today. I can’t stand here and be denying the obvious. But if by tomorrow we have political issues, I will still say my own. I will tell him the truth; that is politics. But when we get back home, he is a leader. Chief Bode George is a leader. A number of them are leaders of the South. We can’t say because they are in other political parties they should be rubbished and we will be clapping. No, I can’t clap. It is true I’m not a member of the APC and I will never be. The fact remains that honour should be given to whom honour is due.

“There is nobody – mother, brother and sister – that will wish, with the efforts Asiwaju has put into Nigeria and his party, that he should be disgraced. It will be unfortunate for the Yoruba nation if they short-change Asiwaju in APC. When they bring anything to the South-West, they won’t give me. They won’t give PDP but they will give a Yoruba man. And one of the leading lights that can bring such opportunity is Asiwaju Tinubu. When PDP was appointing ministers, they came from the party and not from APC. But should we say we should cut them down? No. When a man is in a position of authority in the North everybody says, ‘Ranka dede.’ But here we begin to pull him down. That is not good. A lot of people can misunderstand this and say Fayose is going to APC. They are daydreamers. APC is not doing well now. It is only a mad man that will say he is going to APC. It is only a mad man that will say he is going into a house that is collapsing every day. It is a matter of time; if PDP lost power after 16 years, APC will lose it in four years. There is no way they can cross that line. There is an implosion in that party. The only thing holding them together is government and power.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Governor Rauf Aregbesola

On Aregbesola, Fayose has this to say: “Governor (Rauf) Aregbesola and I are close. We have been close since the days of former Governor Fayemi’s election. That is the truth. He knows the role I played during Fayemi’s election and he acknowledges it. Let me give you a typical example. When I became the governor, the house I built (women centre); I built it in the name of the late Deputy Governor Adunni Olayinka who served under Fayemi. No APC governor in this state can do that to me. They cannot do it. My wife is building blocks of classrooms in Erelu Angela Adebayo children’s home. If it were another governor’s wife, she would go and set up her own. But that is not her (my wife’s) style. My wife said if our mission is the development of the state, we don’t need to let our ego and interest supersede the interest of Ekiti. She is going to promote that centre named after the wife of the first civilian governor, who is (now) an APC leader. It doesn’t matter. What I’m saying is that we must look beyond politics.

Read the remaining interview below, entitled:

Anyone that betrays Tinubu is bringing curses upon himself — Fayose

You made some predictions about Nigeria. Have they come to pass?

The predictions were published in December last year. After the publication, so many people attacked me and said I predicted doom for Nigeria. But today, I won’t say I’m happy. Ninety per cent of the predictions I made have come to pass not because I wished so. I have always said I’m ‘Peter, the Rock.’ When you look at my life, I have overcome a lot of challenges. This is divine grace. I am an anointed man of God. So going by the predictions, they were out of God’s inspiration and they have all come to pass by 90 per cent. The only prediction that did not come to pass is the Kogi governorship poll and God knows best. I want to say it expressly that I predicted that an attempt to take the South-South states of Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and others by force would lead to unprecedented deaths and it happened like that. In Bayelsa so many people died. Today, a lot of issues are coming up in Rivers because of the election.

I remember I said Senate President Bukola Saraki would face fresh trials and I went to him to tell him. He had not been charged to court at that time. Today, he is facing trials; recently they (Federal Government) withdrew a case against him. I tell you the case is not over. I predicted that oil price will go below $30; it happened like that. At that time the price of oil was around $50, but it went below $30. I predicted the free fall of the naira; people castigated me. It is about N500 to $1 now.

I predicted that Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa would win the supplementary election and he won. I also predicted that Taraba governor would win his election and he won. We were together in Jerusalem when I told him that the court would give him victory. I can’t remember other ones for now. I want to assure you that in December we will tell God to guide us to tell Nigerians about what is happening.

You have always tagged President Muhammadu Buhari as a sectional leader. Why?

Let me put it this way: I have said so many things in the past and I have no apology (to make). There are two things in life that a man could worry about. A man could be worried about death; a man could be worried about incarceration and harassment; but, I’m not afraid of any (of those). I have gone through many (of those things) in my life except death. Everything I have said, people can attest to it that the President has proved to be for northerners rather than for Nigeria. His body language, activities, appointments are all in favour of the North and not Nigeria. The president is interested in a certain group of people. Unfortunately, they are majorly from the North. My position is that as the president, the whole country is his constituency and not a section, and he must not be sectional in his decision. He has acted more like a sectional leader.

Without justice there won’t be peace. We don’t have peace now because there is no justice. It is obvious that Yorubas played a major role in the ascension of the president. He became the president because of the commitment of many Yoruba leaders, not necessarily in the Peoples Democratic Party. You are first a Yoruba man before you can join any political party. The president enjoyed total support; financially and morally to be where he is today. There was a lot of undercurrent, we have the intelligence. But it is undeniable that the likes of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and a host of others played a role in his emergence – even in the (presidential) primary that produced the president. We leave everything in the hands of God: the fate of those people. We will keep our fingers crossed as events unfold. But remember I said it is only prayers that can save those people from the government of President Buhari and the signals are becoming clear. For me, Yorubas are currently short-changed.

Could this be the reason you recently canvassed for regional integration among Yoruba states?

Regional integration can only work if we remember our basis. We are first Yoruba before we are Nigerian. Our leaders must come together. You know my position on Asiwaju (Tinubu) and I’m not in the All Progressives Congress and will never be. When we were campaigning for the election of former Governor Kayode Fayemi, Asiwaju invited me to join the party and I said no. Regional integration is wonderful and desirable because in our unity lies our strength. But when it is politicised, it will take us nowhere. We should come together irrespective of political affiliations. Americans will always say, ‘God bless America’ even when they lose an election. This is the attitude we must inculcate. The leaders must rally round to strengthen ties. We are contributing so much to the values of Nigeria than for our leaders to be rubbished cheaply by people who got greedy because of the opportunity given to them. We can’t begin to celebrate because of political gains. These same leaders brought them from obscurity. It will not be in our interest to watch these ingrates because of our political differences.

How could some of them have got to positions of relevance if not for God? And the same leaders, they are conspiring with his (Tinubu) enemies to rubbish him. The people that betrayed Pa (Obafemi) Awolowo died mysteriously. The greatest thing a man can offer his leader is loyalty except if the leader is wicked. Most of the people Asiwaju Tinubu and I brought up betrayed us. They are only bringing curses upon their lives. If you wine and dine with enemies of people that brought you up, you are a betrayer. I support regional integration based on issues not politics; based on truth, not politics; and based on development, not politics. For me, anything that can promote this region and enhance the life of the common man, that is what I will support.

Gov. Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State

What is your relationship with Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola?

Governor (Rauf) Aregbesola and I are close. We have been close since the days of former Governor Fayemi’s election. That is the truth. He knows the role I played during Fayemi’s election and he acknowledges it. Let me give you a typical example. When I became the governor, the house I built (women centre); I built it in the name of the late Deputy Governor Adunni Olayinka who served under Fayemi. No APC governor in this state can do that to me. They cannot do it. My wife is building blocks of classrooms in Erelu Angela Adebayo children’s home. If it were another governor’s wife, she would go and set up her own. But that is not her (my wife’s) style. My wife said if our mission is the development of the state, we don’t need to let our ego and interest supersede the interest of Ekiti. She is going to promote that centre named after the wife of the first civilian governor, who is (now) an APC leader. It doesn’t matter. What I’m saying is that we must look beyond politics.

What do you think of some ex-APC governors’ loyalty to President Buhari against Tinubu?

I don’t want to take issues anyhow with anybody. There is a Yoruba proverb that says, ‘It is the calabash that will show you where to tie the rope on its body.’ A Judas is a Judas. If a family is peaceful, it is because the bastard in that house has not grown to the age of maturity. The day he attains maturity he will brew troubles in the family and eventually scatter it. I don’t want to start mentioning names or attacking individuals. But, it must be noted that conscience is an open wound, only truth can heal it. If there is anybody that Asiwaju has brought up and made and they want to turn around and pull him down, they too will pay dearly for it. They know themselves. Judas knew himself. This is not the beginning; they have been doing it before now. The thing is just coming into the open. A betrayer will always be a betrayer. I’m not an APC man and I’m not holding brief for Asiwaju Tinubu. But, I believe in the Yoruba nation and I believe in our leaders. As much as I believe in Asiwaju, I believe in our PDP leaders too. Don’t forget, even in the North there are leaders that when they were being maltreated I condemned it. I don’t hide because the truth is what I stand to represent. And anything that will take away the honour and dignity of our leader like Asiwaju Tinubu, we will rise up against it and expose those behind it. It is common in Yoruba land for people who are supposed to watch your back to collude with external aggressors and destroy their leaders to take such (leadership) position. It will never work.

You spoke glowingly of Tinubu. What informed your decision to defend him in spite of your political differences?

Like I said, for every nation and region, there are leaders. Even, if I don’t like Asiwaju, he has attained an enviable height in his political endeavours. He has done so well economically. He has led his people to wherever they are today. I can’t stand here and be denying the obvious. But if by tomorrow we have political issues, I will still say my own. I will tell him the truth; that is politics. But when we get back home, he is a leader. Chief Bode George is a leader. A number of them are leaders of the South. We can’t say because they are in other political parties they should be rubbished and we will be clapping. No, I can’t clap. It is true I’m not a member of the APC and I will never be. The fact remains that honour should be given to whom honour is due.

There is nobody – mother, brother and sister – that will wish, with the efforts Asiwaju has put into Nigeria and his party, that he should be disgraced. It will be unfortunate for the Yoruba nation if they short-change Asiwaju in APC. When they bring anything to the South-West, they won’t give me. They won’t give PDP but they will give a Yoruba man. And one of the leading lights that can bring such opportunity is Asiwaju Tinubu. When PDP was appointing ministers, they came from the party and not from APC. But should we say we should cut them down? No. When a man is in a position of authority in the North everybody says, ‘Ranka dede.’ But here we begin to pull him down. That is not good. A lot of people can misunderstand this and say Fayose is going to APC. They are daydreamers. APC is not doing well now. It is only a mad man that will say he is going to APC. It is only a mad man that will say he is going into a house that is collapsing every day. It is a matter of time; if PDP lost power after 16 years, APC will lose it in four years. There is no way they can cross that line. There is an implosion in that party. The only thing holding them together is government and power.

You campaigned for former Governor Kayode Fayemi in the rerun. Do you have any regret?

Even if I had any regret, God has granted me victory over any regret. I did everything humanly possible to support Fayemi to get to that position. Throughout his tenure, it was as if I was going through a civil war. But that is no longer important. If a man took advantage of you and God restored your pride to you, what else do you want? The people that conspired against me to remove me from office in 2006 and those plotting (against me) now, I don’t want them to die – including our lawyer-friend that sits in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission coordinating evil against me. They will wait in vain. I want to refer them to Psalm 23: ‘Though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, I shall fear no evil for thou are with me. Thou set a table before me in the presence of my enemies.’ God will still set another table before me after this one. They will wait in vain. I have not lost any battle. I will always escape their evil plans. They wanted me to be in jail so that I won’t be here; I escaped. They wanted me to go to prison for murder; I escaped. I’m here today not by their grace. The more they call people to come and falsify statements against me, the more I become favoured.

Why did you decide to contest against Fayemi whom you once campaigned for?

If Fayemi had done well and had been fair to people like me, at the age of 55, there won’t be a reason for me to say I want to be a governor again. Naturally, this governorship is for young people because you need a lot of energy to run around. The failure of one is the promotion of the other. Because if Fayemi had treated me well as agreed (I would not have contested against him). They denied that I had an agreement with them to go to the Senate. When I contested for the Senate, they manipulated the election. They said I collected money from Asiwaju, that they had paid me off. I kept quiet and persevered. I kept praying. There was a time I went to Fayemi’s office; I was walked out – an office that I built. Well, that is history now because even if I had issues with him, God has rewarded me. He is a diligent rewarder of those that put faith in him. I’m satisfied. I have no issues again with him. He is one-time governor of this state and I will be an ex-governor at some point. I appreciate God for giving me a second chance to be able to put in my best and have my name written in history positively.