BY Lekan Fatodu
Call him an enigma of some sort, that will still situate perfectly within varying popular views. The governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose is one politician who has, perhaps more than anyone else in Nigeria, continued to draw incredible public attention especially at the state level where he’s having a second stint as governor.
Fayose, who first came to political limelight in 2003 when he was elected governor of Ekiti state, remains a common feature in different political chat-rooms chiefly on his involvement in several fierce political battles and series of controversies. Unsurprisingly, one of these numerous crises led to Fayose’s impeachment from office in 2006.
Meanwhile, if the first coming of Fayose was adjudged by Nigerians of different shades as riotous and distressing, his second coming has not been any better. It has been full of tales of fights and fright; and also flights of fancy which have been well prepped up as elixirs to the masses’ best wishes.
By a stroke of luck, which in reality has significantly altered political permutations in Nigeria, Fayose, having failed to clinch lesser elective positions, gave a shot at the governorship of Ekiti again in 2014 and defeated the incumbent, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. With that victory, Fayose repeated the feat of beating an incumbent as he did when he won the election against the then governor Niyi Adebayo in 2003. But what made his second electoral triumph more fascinating was that he trounced a notable incumbent.
Truly, his surprised comeback rubbished the calculations of many political pundits, who had placed their bets on Fayemi to return as governor as ahead of Fayose who came a distant second and, sometimes, even third in most of the opinion polls that preceded the gubernatorial election in the state.
Fayemi, who Fayose eventually routed at the polls, was reputed as one of the most outstanding and performing governors in Nigeria at the time. In comparison to Fayose, Fayemi was said to be more urbane, cerebral and better equipped with the principles of good governance. But then, the Ekiti populace voted for Fayose supposedly on the premise of his greater understanding of their ultimate needs for Stomach Infrastructure, a concept Fayose invented during his electioneering.
Simply put, the concept represents a method of government that prioritises supply of the stomach’s requirements like food items to the people above other sustainable interventions that will eradicate poverty and hunger. And being an adherent of the very brutish side of the winner-takes-all approach to governance, Fayose is never an individual with spare time to accommodate or negotiate with a political opponent however pleasing the intention of the opposition may appear. The rambunctious governor will not be forgotten in a hurry for his vicious campaign and onslaught against President Buhari, in the run-in to the last Presidential contest.
Fayose had no scruples in his attempt to de-market Buhari for the Presidency. For that, many Nigerians lampooned Fayose for securing a front-page obituary-like advertorial on Buhari in some major newspapers, an infamous act that was criticized for being too offensive and violating the minimum rules of decency in electoral contest. Hence, nobody expected him to be magnanimous to his predecessor, Fayemi.
So it is very unusual, and particularly refreshing to hear the same Fayose fighting for Fayemi, who has just been nominated a minister, to have a hitch-free moment at the senate screening for ministerial nominees.
Fayose’s remarkably warm and familial call for support came on the heels of a flurry of petitions from outside and threats by some senators that some individuals nominated by President Buhari to work with him will face a gruelling time at the senate screening. Former governors, Romiti Amaechi, of Rivers State, Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and Kayode Fayemi were mentioned as prime targets in the coveted national job interview.
But Fayose took a break from the norm. He rallied support for Fayemi and quickly called his men in the national assembly to order.
“I call on all the House of Representatives members and senators that went to Abuja from here. Some people petitioned the National Assembly stating how Fayemi sunk Ekiti into heavy debts, I have told the members not to do that. You must support him there. They should not go to the Senate and oppose Kayode Fayemi, no, they must never do that. An Ekiti man is an Ekiti man. I appeal to everybody, you must support him”, Fayose said.
Expectedly, Fayemi has appeared before the senate. He was grilled on his stewardship as governor of Ekiti state and was asked to take “a bow, and go” having offered satisfactory answers to the senators.
Though Fayose may have fought some unnecessary, ridiculous and incredulous battles in recent times, rallying support for Fayemi’s ministerial nomination which he (Fayose) has termed the “Ekiti Project” was a smart move capable of improving his public image. Actually, the symbolism of his latest stance is that the general public will start to appreciate him as not absolutely dismissive.