Posted by From BASHIR UMAR, Abuja on
The suspended governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose on Thursday dismissed President Olusegun Obasanjo's reasons for the extension of emergency rule in the state. He, however, said he was neither disappointed nor ruffled.
The suspended governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose on Thursday dismissed President Olusegun Obasanjo's reasons for the extension of emergency rule in the state. He, however, said he was neither disappointed nor ruffled.
Fayose, in a statement made available to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, described Obasanjo's excuses for extending the emergency rule as that of somebody who must do everything, no matter how unreasonable, illogical, frivolous or flimsy, to justify his action.
He said he felt constrained to react in view of the president's attempt to have the world believe that he masterminded the violence that erupted after the announcement of the governorship election result last weekend.
While exonerating himself from the violence, the suspended governor said Obasanjo, the Sole Administrator of the state, Brigadier-General Adetunji Olurin (retd) and their agents, such as the police, soldiers and other security operatives, should rather be held responsible for unleashing terror on the people of Ekiti to justify the extension of the emergency rule which they had been working towards before now.
"I will only say to Mr. President: ‘Blessed are the Oppressors.' Mr. President cannot be wrong because he is the president. He cannot lie because he is the president. Our president, at the end of his tenure, should be referred to as ‘Saint Obasanjo' because of his ‘sacred attachment' to truth as reflected in the role he played in Ekiti politics. However, I dare say that all his actions will be measured and judged by time and truth. Nothing lasts forever. Gradually, I am becoming vindicated because Ekiti people can read between the lines.
"Mr. President should learn to speak the truth because it is the truth, fairness and equity that can deliver our country as you yourself had once been a victim of miscarriage of justice because whatever you do today, you will account for it tomorrow.
"Today, I want to say to Ekiti people: Be of good courage as there will definitely be light at the end of darkness. By now, you should know your friends and your enemies. It is only unfortunate that they are now forcing on you a government that is totally against your will.
"As for me, I dey kampe. The struggle continues. I have no regret because I have done my best for the people of Ekiti. And I will forever remain the voice of the common man in Ekiti. I am not ruffled. I am not disappointed because I had prepared my mind for it.
"It is most unfortunate that Mr. President accused me of masterminding violence in Ekiti. I want to ask Mr. President if I have the power to deploy the soldiers who teamed up with the police and other security agents to unleash terror on the people of Ekiti. But because there must be justification for every action and inaction to extend the emergency rule, then Fayose must be held responsible.
"It would be recalled that I had raised the alarm that Olurin had been mandated to deliver Ekiti to PDP by do or die and thereafter be rewarded with the extension of emergency rule. However, Mr. President must be able to justify the extension by crying foul that there was violence in Ekiti," he said.
Fayose queried Obasanjo on whether he was also the mastermind of the orgy of violence that trailed the polls in the Niger Delta states and other states like Ondo, Edo, Kano and Nasarawa, where many lives and properties were lost.
He described Obasanjo's action as nothing short of miscarriage of justice and a brute exercise of his powers as President and Commander-in-Chief.