TheCable

Ayodele Fayose, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the June 21 Ekiti state governorship election, has been sworn in as governor of the state.

Speaking at his inauguration on Thursday at the Oluyemi Kayode stadium in Ado-Ekiti, Fayose said his return marked the eternal departure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the state because it had wreaked the untold hardship to the state. he also promised to “put food on the table” of Ekiti people.

He paid tributes to Omolafe Aderiye, a former chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state, who was murdered on September 25.

Fayose, who arrived in the company of his wife around 12: 45 pm, beamed with smiles, as he waved to the tumultuous crowd.

“Let us also observe a minute for the departed soul of APC in Ekiti state. Not in our history again will they come back. They will never return to this state again.”

In line with the constitution, Ayodeji Daramola, the chief judge of the state, first administered the oath of office on Kolapo Olusola, the new deputy governor, before Fayose.

And while speaking, the new governor said history was being made and his kind of history would take a while to surpass because it was divine.

“Today marks the eight anniversary of that dark episode. If you watch very well, Ekiti has been battling with my removal. They could not find peace until God brought me back,” he said.

“I have forgiven Ekiti for removing me unjustly and I declare peace, prosperity , progress, employment, food and stomach infrastructure.

“You can put a tar on the road but if I don’t have a car and I’m hungry, then that tar is meaningless. Tarring our road is wonderful but putting food inside this stomach is very important.

“Already, I am grooming your chicken for Christmas. I am getting your rice ready to do stomach infrastructure. When I defeated them, they said it was as a result of stomach infrastructure. How can an incumbent be saying that when he had the money, he had the power, he had the might but disconnected himself from the people. They are gone.

“I will dedicate myself to your service. I will banish hunger in your midst. I will work hard to put food on your table. I represent you. I am living for you. I am here to serve you. That is my assignment.

He said although the opposition wanted him to look like the governor of their imagination, he was a governor of the people’s imagination.

“I am the governor of your imagination, the governor that eats boli with you, the governor that drinks agbo jedi with you, the governor that knows that the resources of this state belong to you,” he continued.

“When I come to buy boli tomorrow, I will drop something. I will look after you. They are too clean in their own eyes to go to the jedi sector and that is why you voted them out. Whether they call it stomach infrastructure, that is their business because I am going to appoint a special adviser for stomach infrastructure.”

Fayose expressed appreciation to the leadership of PDP for their support and also commended the people for standing by him through the years.

“I have more than enough governors in house to intimidate them,” he said.

“I want to thank President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the party for the support because even if I am more popular than this, without the ticket, I might not get here.

“I left PDP for another party. No way until I came back. I won under PDP before and today I am governor through PDP. One thing I have noticed is that if you leave PDP, you will remain in the wilderness of life until you return.

“I also want to express profound gratitude to you my people for keeping faith and identifying with my destiny. One thing that continues to amaze me since I left office is that God has kept my love in your heart. It is difficult for a man to get this kind of opportunity but only God can do this. My mandate is divine.

“By the grace of God, I am the first son of Ekiti to be governor here twice and the first Nigerian politician to defeat two incumbents and all former governors of this state that have served at one point or the other.

“Ekiti people have seen beyond their veil of fraud and deception and rejected them. They call themselves democrats but they are cloned democrats. You have successfully supported me to sack them in this state and send them back to their masters in Lagos.

“Even if they doubted the first defeat in 2003, they cannot doubt this one. The same margin I gave to Adebayo was what I gave to Fayemi. The only difference is that Fayemi was defeated in the 16 local government areas of the state.”

Fayose also welcomed six lawmakers from the state and national assembly who defected from APC to PDP. Their admittance to the party was formalised by by Adamu Muazu, national chairman of PDP; and the governors of Akwa Ibom, Delta, Jigawa, Cross Rivers, Kaduna, Bauchi, Kebbi, Abia, Ondo, Katsina, who were in attendance.

In 2003, Fayose contested the governorship election as PDP’s candidate, defeating then governor Niyi Adebayo of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). But he served for only three years, as he was impeached on October 16, 2006.

In June this year, also on the platform of PDP, he defeated incumbent Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC).