Why I fight Buhari–Fayose

…My worst fears under him

By Willy Eya

ON Friday, thousands of artisans, drivers, motorcyclists, mechanics, tailors, barbers among others, trooped out in Ado Ekiti to protest the freezing of the accounts of Governor Ayo Fayose and also in solidarity to his government. The governor addressed a select group of journalists after the event. Daily Sun was there. Excerpts:

Let us look at the genesis of the problem you are having with President Muhammadu Buhari; this thing started immediately he became the flag bearer of the APC. You took him up even through adverts. What informed your position, is it purely politics or you just don’t like the man?

Let me make it very clear that I am a straight forward person. I answer questions as they come. I am not somebody who is begging for favour from anybody. I respect humanity, I respect human beings but I fear God and we all are going to account for our leadership here. President Buhari is a Nigerian, a leader without doubt, but it is a right of everybody in this country to choose, as long as you are grown enough to choose –it’s your choice. I am entitled to decide to support or not to support him based on principles and perceptions of the person.

Incidentally, this year I will be 56. I am a grown Nigerian when President Buhari was president of this country. I was well grown enough to know what he represented.

The people that voted largely for President Buhari were under 40 years old because they dominated the social media and Bible says “My people die because for lack of knowledge – information.

President Buhari was president of this country 32 years ago – already he has been president for one year; that means 31 years ago. He became president 1984 and you recall that anybody that would say I am 40 years at the time President Buhari contested was only nine years. A nine year old doesn’t know what Nigeria represents and that was why they voted for him because you must know who you are giving your life to – who you are giving your future to. You must know you are not taking your life to Golgotha. So, as man who knew President Buhari, as at then I was in Ibadan. I knew the total misrule of 1984 to 1985 – how the military suffered Nigerians, how a lot of leaders were clamped in chains using decree 2.

The same thing President Buhari did at that time is what he is doing now. You

will recall that even late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Emir of Kano, Ooni of Ife, their passports were taken away from them.

Their rights were taken away. A man that is grown cannot change. Most young ladies will say, “Let me just marry that man, I will be praying, he will change”. You can change nothing! Because as soon as a man is formed, except you are converted – you are born again. The Bible says “Behold all have become new”. In the Christendom,

you will see the change. It would be clear! You want to see a man that used to be a drunkard, when he gets born again, he doesn’t drink at all. You see a man that is smoking, but when you are truly born again, you will see a total departure from the past.

So, President Buhari is living true to type. If you look at the way he is governing Nigeria today, it is the same way he did before; by his appointments, by his taking away the right of the people, by doing things without recourse for due process. I was listening to him when he was doing his first interview; he was still saying “that boy Kanu, he would remain in prison”. You are not the law court.

I am not somebody who is afraid of anything. I have said it several times. There are two things a man seems to be afraid of; some are afraid of incarceration, some are afraid of death; I am not afraid of anything except God. I have gone through this road before.

In 2006, I was charged to court by EFCC. The Falanas of this world, the Ojudus of this world and all my adversaries on the other side, they were working with Nuhu Ribadu; when they were celebrating me negatively in the newspapers; Fayose is Going, Going, Gone! After all, they did it but I am back in the Government House now. I was incarcerated; I was in Ikoyi prison for almost 50 days. So, when you do these things, you make me a better man.

When you look at the book of James, it says “Don’t be in a hurry to get out of trouble”. When faith worketh patience in you, it makes you a better man. Sometimes food is good but fasting is better. I am not a man scared of all these. Most people, Buhari has cowed them. Those people who brought Buhari, they are now taking the back yard.

They are afraid that if a man can be matching the cloth of a family member like this, he would destroy the cloth of somebody else.

What is your take on the president’s fight against corruption?

Fighting corruption is a great thing. It is good but anything that does not represent

the truth is simply corruption. Anything that doesn’t represent justice…those who

make peaceful change impossible would make violent change inevitable. You’re oppressing

some people now either because they are not from your region or because

you had issues with them before; it is mission for vengeance.

I have never heard in the whole world where you say people have issue that is not

murder and not bordering on capital punishment, and they are not entitled to bail.

The EFCC would harass people to submission and force people to drop money. And

when they get helpless, they would begin to say what they are not supposed to say. You

want to go and arrest people and start look-ing for evidence. That is oppression! You are supposed

to have concluded your investigation before you go and arrest people!

How would you keep people in jail when they are not convicted yet? They are under incarceration

for three, five, six months; Nigerians don’t know now, there are a lot of people in different

cells of EFCC and SSS suffering for nothing. What if at the end of the day the court releases them?

Then their rights would have been violated. So, let me round it off, there is nothing personal

between President Buhari and me. There are instances that are so glaring now that people

in the APC are like saints. Look at my state. There are document clearly – the EFCC have them but

will not call somebody. The Universal Basic Education where the former governor went away with

N892m; even in the letter they wrote they said “This is a criminal act”, but when you are in the

APC, you become an angel. It doesn’t matter!

Let us look at the APC, most of the people they were bashing in those days when they get to APC,

they become saints. You can’t run a country like that! Look at all the promises made to Nigerians.

They went as far as running their mouths to say that dollar will be one to one. They went as far as

telling us that they would feed even goats in our homes. All these we would feed, we will know

when it will start.

Look at the fuel price; in the entire people that governed this country before, the sharp increase

has never happened before. Look at when Jonathan than increased fuel for just about N20 – N30 difference,

it was as if heaven was going to come down.

These are ungodly acts. I have told the people who brought Buhari that they will end up inside his stomach. The story is like the story of a rich man who brought a lion home.

They asked him “where did you get lion from”, he said “they gave me and they know that I have what

it takes to keep it in the house” and people were telling the man, because they were afraid to tell him the

truth because he is a rich man; they said this thing is usually not domesticated at home, it lives in the

bush. He said no, it has to be at home. Gradually, the lion became a man-lion.

First, it chopped the man’s children, got out of the gate, went to the surroundings to meet those

who kept quiet and chopped them too. This is one chance government that we have entered under this

man. Nepotism is another story and lying upon lying.

Look at how the wife of the president was calling me “unchained mad dog”, the wife of a president”.

This is our country, we cannot all be silent. Somebody has to talk. The one that is useful, you take it

and the one that is not useful, you throw it away.

In fact, opposition is the strength of democracy.

It is where the average man can get value for money. You are trying to silence Femi Fani-

Kayode; you are trying to silence Metuh and others.

My brothers, where in Nigeria have people contested election, vied for office and not spend

money? All the aircrafts carrying President Buhari during campaigns, is it cows that were carrying

him around – those cows declared?

Recently, they said somebody has houses in Dubai, quickly there is a defence. When they were

talking about the wife of the president, defence came from Nuhu Ribadu. Even the former EFCC

chairman, Larmode, looking for way out of his problem, quickly too, said that was not the people we are

looking for.

I want to make it clear that there is nothing personal between myself and President Buhari, but

I want to make it expressly clear again to you that what they are doing is not in the interest of Nigeria;

to cow the people once opinion differ from theirs. After all, this state was run by APC when Jonathan

was president. They had peace to run their government.

Today, if you want to call police, they are afraid. When you want to use the FRCN, they will

say no. The president will not allow. They will go and report us to APC in Abuja. So, what kind of life is

that? The FRCN here, they don’t carry PDP news. It is that bad!

So, what nation are we building? A nation built on sectional and political interests? As much as you

can call Jonathan’s name, the man never took a political prisoner. In fact, Jonathan should have been president in 50 years’ time because the man is too civil.

I am happy if they didn’t give APC and President Buhari chance, they will not go through what they

are going through. Look at the state of electricity.

Look at food security. Look at the life of an average Nigerian! Look at the exchange rate. Look at how

many states that cannot pay salaries.

How are you handling the issue of salary arrears you are owing workers?

I have said it several times. The money owed in this state was not owed by me. I was governor between

year 2003 and 2006; I left N10. 4bn in the coffers of this government when I was leaving; I left

hurriedly. Part of the N10.4 billion was what I used in the recapitalisation of Wema Bank through Oodua. I came back and I met this state in debt. Don’t forget I left on October 16, 2006

and I came back again October 16, 2014.

That is divine! And most of the second term governors were the ones that put

their states in debts. I am fresh. I came back now, I met N31bn commercial loan.

I met N25bn bond. On the bond alone, we pay about N600m every month. On

the restructured commercial loan, we pay almost N300m every month. They take

N900m from that. When we took bailout for workers’ salary, they now deducted

N89m for that; if you add 89, which is almost 100 that is almost N1bn.

Then they allowed us to borrow N10bn for capital instead of sharing the excess

crude oil money. That N10bn, they are charging close to N100m for 20 years.

So, the N300m will be paid by Ekiti until 2036. The N600m will be until 2022! You

are asking how are my owing? That is what I owe! In this Government House, sometimes

we don’t have light. If you look at it now, in the governor’s office, we can’t put

on the light. We have to shed light to have this one because we can’t even do more

than 15, 000 litres every month. When I got here, they used to take about three trailers.

I can’t even take half a truck. So, if anybody is talking about debt profile, they should

ask the last administration.

You should be a member of the Federal Executive Council, where you could offer

advice to the government. When last did you attend the meeting and what are the

advice you have given on the economy because we are all in this boat together?

Each time they call meeting, my deputy goes there. You remember I was in Abuja

and I said expressly there that they were calling it economic summit; they brought

all of us there, but when I saw the list of the people that will lecture us, I cannot allow a

sick man to be treating me – people I know how they ran the economy of their states

aground; they will now be the lecturers in the summit. And when you go there and

see the figures they are brandishing for arrangements and feeding running into over

N250m, that is not economic summit. That is economic stealing. So, I send my deputy

regularly. One, I am a second term governor.

When you want to work with people whose ideology does not align with yours,

it is better to leave them. They are the ones carrying Nigeria; they are the ones leading

Nigeria.

I wrote three letters to the president, none of them was replied. Initially, when

he became president, I didn’t start like this. About two – three times I called the villa,

they would divert my call to the CSO, saying I cannot talk to the president. I should

say whatever I want to say to him; a sitting governor? That is not Nigeria. So, at that

point, I had to stay clear because they are on a vendetta mission.

How do you react to the belief that you were among those who brought

Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the National Chairman of the PDP and therefore

should be held responsible for the leadership crisis in the party?

When you are travelling in a vehicle and it gets an accident and have broken windows

and tyres, if you want to drive that car again, it won’t gain momentum at the same

time. You need time to get spare parts to put the car back in shape. That was exactly

what happened to the PDP and gradually,

the party is picking up. Let me tell you, if the party does not get to this level, rebuilding

it will be very difficult. A party that has been in government for 16 years, suddenly

had accident like that, it is not going to be easy to pick the pieces. Direction has not

been an issue for the PDP because we had the president, good leadership but we lost

direction and the leadership and everybody has become lord.

How can somebody say that a governor is not the leader of the party in the state

but when they need money, they run to the governor? That is part of the fallout when

you lose power. But it is not a bad situation because when you are alive, you can still get

it right. This is a process that we have to go through but we must realign ourselves with

the reality on ground. There is a saying in my place that when a home is at peace, the

bastard in the home has not grown. A lot of people were members of the PDP because

of the benefits at the time the party was in power. They are political jobbers, people

who want to be relevant and remain in control of the party.

On the issue of Sheriff, I did what I did in good faith. When you ask me to go

and look for somebody, I can only look for someone in my opinion. I am neither

a perfect person nor someone who can see beyond my eyes. There are physical

parameters; Ali Modu Sheriff is a former two-term governor, a former senator, so

I feel that I did the right thing. When you recommend me and I fumble, it is not

your fault. Do we blame Jesus Christ for not seeing that Judas Iscariot will betray

him? Do we blame Joseph for narrating his dream to his brothers?

A man will do what he would do because we are limited, we may not be able to

see through or perceive. I had to confront Sheriff when the issue of Sheriff/Fayose

ticket came up. I had to ask how Sheriff and Fayose would contest for the presidential

election when Sheriff wants to be party chairman.

I never knew that the thing was going on until it got to a point that people started

saying that he told them that he will make them vice president, including myself. Everybody

realised it at the same time. That meant that the same way we were then trying

to help him move from the temporary three months in office to substantive chairman,

if we are not careful, he will become our presidential candidate in 2019 and we

will become helpless. So, this problem is even better now. If you look at his antecedent and all he has been doing, you will ask: is this a life and death issue?

What are your worst fears of Nigeria under Buhari in four years and possibly eight years?

My fear is that Nigeria would be a country without opposition; the rights of the people would be taken from them in the name of fighting corruption. If we continue like this, journalists will be the next target.




source: Sun News