How Fayemi’s Appointment May Affect Ekiti Politics

Olakiitan Victor writes that the ministerial appointment of a former governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has a role to play in the politics of the state
The appointment of former Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State by President Muhammadu Buhari as a minister weighs in many direction to the average Ekiti person, particularly the political class. Some see it as an opportunity for the former governor to re-launch himself back into reckoning in both the politics of the state and the nation, while some reckon it still would make no significant value.
Some are even of the opinion that it would further widen the polarisation in the All Progressives Congress (APC).  Different reasons are being adduced, but whichever way anyone looks at it, the appointment has its own strategic
 reason and there is the widespread belief that it would surely have a huge influence on the politics of the state.

 Fayemi, certainly, cannot forget in a hurry how he lost the last election to the incumbent, Mr. Ayodele Fayose. This defeat has been described by political analysts as the worst ever suffered by any incumbent in the political history of the country. In a country like Nigeria where the end justifies the means, many reckon that a good politician would always find a means to redeem such a humiliation.

 It is on this premise that Fayemi himself must have thought of how he could re-launch back to stardom after the failed election. Some have also argued that Fayemi could act like a former governor of Gombe State and now Senator, Alhaji Danjuma Goje, who became senator through the instrumentality of the ministerial position he held under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The most recent was the case of the River State governor, Nyesom Wike, who rode on the crest of Mrs. Patience Jonathan to ride to the Government House after holding sway in the Ministry of Education, albeit in the junior cadre.

 Fayose too once bestrode the Ekiti political hemisphere like a colossus in 2003 but was ignominiously impeached by the then House of Assembly for sundry offences, particularly the misappropriation of the N1.3billion Integrated Poultry Project. He later went into self-imposed exile for two years before resurfacing. The governor was not oblivious of the fact that the impeachment would continue to be his greatest undoing and he had since been fighting like a wounded lion to ensure that he rewrites such a sordid history and he eventually got it.

 This is why some analysts believed that Fayemi too must not give up. For them, he must continue to use his connection with the presidency, the most powerful place to bring APC back to limelight in Ekiti. Some opined that the position of a minister is no small means to political survival in this country and Fayemi must make strategic use of the opportunity to significantly disabuse the minds of those who might have had the erroneous thinking he was more of a technocrat than a good politician.

 Putting it succinctly, the future of the APC in the state rests heavily on the quartet of former Governors Niyi Adebayo, Segun Oni, Kayode Fayemi and Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele. Any federal position ceded to any of them would automatically be interpreted to mean a serious boost and impetus for the party. Fayemi’s qualification for the plum job is not in doubt. His administrative acumen and astuteness in delivery cannot be questioned and these made his defeat more confounding to some in view of his impressive performance while in the saddle in Ekiti.

 Even among his political traducers, they hold the belief that he is able and capable. Governor Fayose had in the heat of his impending screening at the senate canvassed for speedy screening for Fayemi. He went ahead and instructed the three senators from Ekiti to back his nomination. This conveyed serious signal that Fayemi, even among his political enemies still enjoys acceptability in terms of competence and this, he should ensure reflects on his party in terms of performance during elections.

 A member of the seventh House of Representatives, Hon Bamidelem Faparusi saw Fayemi’s appointment as strategic and one that would impact on the politics of the state, just as he branded it opportunity to reunite the party and re-launch himself back to reckoning after losing the governorship poll.

 Faparusi said Fayemi as a minister in the cabinet of President Buhari, would automatically become the rallying point for the party, which would afford him the opportunity to unite the party and make it a formidable structure to be able to defeat the incumbent. Faparusi was emphatic that Fayemi’s new position would definitely have an impact on the direction of the state’s politics.

 He therefore expressed confidence in Fayemi’s ability to replicate the achievements in Ekiti at the federal level, but added that there is need for him to address all the contending issues back home for him to earn respect of his colleagues at the Federal Executive Council.
“Though having interest groups in opposition party is not alien to politics and politicking, but there must be a will to be able to align all these forces at the right time for us  to face the uphill task of winning the governorship poll in 2018. His ministerial position is strategic to us in APC being our leader and a rallying point.

“As much as I congratulate the former governor and our leader for this feat, I want to advise that he must rise above primordial sentiments and ensure a speedy process of reconciliation as soon as he is assigned a portfolio,” he said.

 Former Information Commissioner in Lagos State, Hon Bamidele shared similar view. He said Fayemi as one of the reliable leaders the APC rests on cannot but have an influence on the politics of the state, particularly while holding such a sensitive position of a minister.
 He advised Fayemi to serve as a rallying point for APC members and act as the real change agent to bring rapid economic recovery to the country and implant the party to be in control of the state. Bamidele specifically advised former governors of Lagos and Ekiti States, Babatunde Raji Fashola and Fayemi to bring their experiences to bear and save the country from its present parlous economic situation.

 Expectedly, the PDP sees the ministerial appointment differently. The party’s Publicity Secretary, Jackson Adebayo said Fayemi as a governor plunged Ekiti into a huge debt totaling N76billion and that this is still fresh in the minds of the Ekiti populace, which he said would make it difficult for the ex-governor to influence anything in the politics of the State.
 He added that it was foolhardy for APC to be expecting something spectacular from Fayemi as a minister, having failed to influence the party in a positive manner as a governor.

“In the first instance, what are Fayemi’s antecedents in Ekiti to be able to influence anything? We are not afraid of his new position. His governorship position in Ekiti was fraught with vices and he ran the state in a manner that affected every facet of the society. Ekiti APC will be living in fool’s paradise if they rely on Fayemi to do wonders as a minister. He failed as a governor and he will fail again.

“What do you expect Ekiti people to do with someone, who plundered their commonwealth? The way he ran Ekiti is still ringing in the minds of the people and the people are ready to reject whatever he associates with politically. We defeated him in all the 16 councils during the last election and we shall repeat same if he brings his protégé in 2018.

“Ekiti people are not fools. They knew those who can serve them conscientiously and that is the person they will follow. Governor Ayodele Fayose is a man of the people. He takes the welfare of the people with priority. He was the initiator of the stomach infrastructure that has become a brand in many states in Nigeria. I want to tell you confidently, anytime anyday that Fayose and his party, the PDP will continue to win elections here in Ekiti with or without Fayemi as Minister,” he said.

 Adebayo said the PDP was firmly on the ground in the state and that nothing could be done by Fayemi as a minister to debase it, urging those having the impression that the ex-governor would wrest power from the ruling PDP to bury such unattainable feat, particularly with Fayose, a more  politically savvy and acceptable governor in the saddle.

 Another chieftain of the party, Mrs. Sade Akinrinmola described the PDP as a brand in the state and that it would be difficult for APC to make inroad into the state. She described Fayemi’s new position as a fluke that cannot erode PDP’s solid base.

“Politics is not played on the pages of newspapers. Neither would the fate of Ekiti people be decided in Abuja. Our people would continue to take their destinies in their hands. And as long as Ekiti election will be decided by the people here, the PDP will continue to triumph whether Fayemi is appointed a minister or not. “The PDP is in a vantage position because while Fayemi is answerable to President Muhammadu Buhari, Fayose will be answerable to the people. On the day of election, the APC will know that there is a difference between someone, who relies on the people to win election and someone who relies on federal power.

“Fayose brought the PDP to limelight in Ekiti by riding on the popular will of the people. He didn’t win because he relies on federal might. I want to appeal to APC to put their house in order and stop fooling themselves that someone, who had failed them in the past even as a governor would now turn around to chase the PDP out of power while in faraway Abuja.”

In spite of the divergent opinions, what is certain is that Fayemi still enjoys some goodwill in Ekiti because of his performance in government. His government  instituted the social security scheme, where 25,000 indigent elders benefited  N5,000 monthly stipend,  built the new Government House, tarred many  city and intercity roads, built
 the state pavilion and many other legacy projects.

 All Fayemi needs at this point is a viable appointment to enable him galvanise his political structure and this ministerial offer affords him such opportunity. In this context, therefore, it will be suicidal for Fayose and the PDP to underrate him, given the nature of Nigeria’s politics and the power that the presidency wields. Fayemi’s position will definitely play a role in Ekiti politics and the PDP must up its game if truly, it is desirous of
retaining power in Ekiti.


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