TheCable

Kayode Fayemi, minister of mines and steel development, says Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, cannot be a free man after losing immunity.

Fayemi said this after hosting Ekiti state leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at Isan-Ekiti, Ekiti state on Thursday.

He said Fayose, who took over from him in 2014, is fond of telling lies.

The minister said the panel of inquiry inaugurated by Ayodele Fayose, the state governor, to probe his administration is a “kangaroo one”.

He said it was an attempt to smear his reputation and render him unpopular.

“Fayose’s stock in trade is lying against someone to score political gains,” he said.

“They started with the probe of N852 million UBEC fund and when they knew they could not go far, they started concocting lies and said I looted N17 billion.

“Let us wait and see who will go to jail between Fayose and I. I have been out of office and I am still moving free, but I am sure he won’t be able to walk free on the streets after losing immunity because of the way he ran the state aground.”

He also alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wants to reclaim power in 2019 so it can continue to loot the country’s treasury.

Fayemi said Nigerians would ensure that the PDP does not return to power “because of the high level of looting it perpetrated while in the saddle”.

He said the PDP had done nothing to convince Nigerians that it has changed, neither has it apologised for “running the country aground”.

“What the PDP wanted to come back and do is stealing,” Fayemi said.

“The options for Nigerians in 2019 is not to return to the old age of criminalisation and brigandage by voting for the PDP.

“There is nothing to convince Nigerians that they have changed with the shenanigans that characterised their national convention and poor performances by their governors.

“Up till now, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and his henchmen have not apologised about how they ran the country aground. So, there is nothing to suggest that PDP remains a credible alternative to APC in 2019.”

Fayemi described the petrol scarcity plaguing the country as “a normal curve in life”, while urging Nigerians not to rate President Muhammadu Buhari’s performances based on it.

“What we are witnessing is just a normal curve in the life of any administration. We will get over it and move on, but largely President has not disappointed Nigerians,” he said.