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"Don't count me out yet. I'm only down, not out. I'll bounce back." These were the words of the suspended Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose as he spoke with Daily Sun on telephone yesterday.
"Don't count me out yet. I'm only down, not out. I'll bounce back." These were the words of the suspended Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose as he spoke with Daily Sun on telephone yesterday.
The governor, who lost his seat following a state of emergency imposed on his state on October 19, last year, said contrary to insinuations on a Nigerian television station earlier in the week about his health, he was hale, hearty, "and in good spirit."
"I'm healthy and doing well to the glory of God," Fayose stated. "There is nothing wrong with me physically or spiritually. To say I am ill is quite misleading. The information is not true."
Is he not depressed by the reversal of fortune which has now turned him almost to a fugitive? Fayose says no.
"Life itself is about struggle," he affirms. "Life is about endurance, facing challenges in the face of persecution.
These are the qualities of great leaders who have to pass through what I'm passing through. And I want to use this opportunity to say I bear no grudge towards anybody. I send my regards to the common man in Ekiti who sincerely loves me for what I did. Unfortunately, efforts are being made to wipe out my legacies, but this will not work as good work speaks for itself. My footprints are indellible in the sands of Ekiti. My government is the closest to the grassroots in the history of the state. My critics do not want to celebrate my achievements, but history will yet celebrate me."
But where is the governor phoning from, inside or outside the country, Daily Sun wanted to know.
Fayose said his location was not important, and added: "It is impossible to destroy a man whom God has not destroyed. I remain strong and resolute. All will be well soon. The panel purportedly probing my administration is an illegal one. It is flouting the law of the land. Most of the cases being handled are already before the law courts.
The panel was set up to put me in bad light before the people, but I'm not bothered because God will vindicate me. The sole administrator, Brig. Gen Tunji Olurin does not have power to do all that he's going. For instance, he does not have the power to dissolve local councils and other political structures. The courts will determine this in a matter of time."
Fayose said he was free to move round, even in Ekiti, as there's a court injunction restraining federal government and its agencies from tampering with his freedom. But why is he not moving freely, Daily Sun asked. His response:
"You have to do things with wisdom. I will come out at the right time. Only a living man can fight. For now I will rather sit down and look at what is happening in our dear Ekiti."
What are his hopes as the first six months of emergency rule terminate on April 18?
"I'm coming back by the grace of God. If the reason given for state of emergency was lack of peace, the sole administrator says there's peace in Ekiti now. So I should be given the opportunity to complete my tenure. I charge all stakeholders to join hands and build Ekiti. It is the only way to help the common man. Let's bury our differences. I'm talking of everybody - myself, my deputy, the state House of Assembly, everybody in Ekiti State."