The war of words between the presidency and Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State continued on Monday.
Fayose declared that he would never allow President Muhammadu Buhari gag him when everything is wrong with the country’s economy.
Describing statements from the presidency, warning him to stop criticising Buhari, as a demonstration of military dictatorship mentality, Fayose said it was undemocratic for the presidency to be warning a governor who heads one of the country’s federating units.
Fayose’s position was contained in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New
Media, Lere Olayinka, in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
Olayinka, who said he was sure that Garba Shehu must have spoken for himself, and not Buhari, added: “Governor
Fayose will continue to say the truth in the interest of Nigeria and its people because the governor is not one of those that will go underground because of political persecution.”
He maintained that the country’s economy was in serious recession, adding; “the president himself attested to this when he said that the country was broke and this has also been corroborated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group financial report, indicating that the corporation incurred a total loss of N120.07bn in the months of August and September.
“JP Morgan is also removing Nigeria from its Emerging Market Bond Index, a move analysts say would have far reaching implications for the country’s dwindling economy as investors could move their funds to competing countries, resulting in higher lending rates.
“It is, therefore, a sad reminder of the military era that in a
democracy, under a federation in which all federating units enjoy some degree of autonomy, the Presidency is warning a State Governor on what o say and what not to say.
“Top functionaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including State Governors criticised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of Dr Goodluck Jonathan, the Presidency did not go about warning them.
“Certainly, these people working with the President need to be purged of Acquired Immune Military Dictatorship Syndrome (AIMDS), even as they must be told that Governor Fayose won’t stop speaking his mind and exposing their hypocrisy in the overall interest of Nigeria and its people.
“Nigerians are desirous of the change promised by the APC-led federal government, but as it stands, no clear direction yet.
“Rather than engage credible Nigerians to help in the revival of the ailing economy, what we have seen from the APC Presidency is appointment of their cronies and political robbers as well as harassment of perceived political opponents with anti corruption agencies and men of the Department of State Security.”
He said it was not in the interest of the President for his aides to take on Fayose, adding that; “leaving issues and attacking
Fayose is like hitting one’s head on the rock.”
