Fayose is a serial liar –Fayemi

January 5, 2015 by Oluwole Josiah 37 Comments











Fayose, Fayemi

The immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, speaks with an Ondo-based radio station, Adaba FM. Oluwole Josiah monitored the interview.

How would you compare the Ekiti you left and what is going on right now?

Ekiti went through ups and downs; there was trouble. The state witnessed unpleasant happenings and turned to what we could not be proud of. In Nigeria if you were looking for a troublesome state, people would point to Ekiti. It was a place of trouble. But in the four years of my administration, nothing of such happened. There was no abuse of government power to oppress the people.

Governor Ayodele Fayose claims that the debt profile of the state is about N76bn but your commissioner later said it was N36bn. What was the state of finances and debt profile before you left office?

I believe that it is not enough for you to hear from my mouth. What is more important is for you to check the audited account and the statement of finance of the state. On the day that I left office, if you check the newspapers, I believe it was October 15, 2014, if you check the Nation newspaper and you check the Guardian newspaper, you will see the audited account of Ekiti State and the debt profile of the state is included in that account and it is N36bn. So, if anyone was to bandy any figure around, he is quite welcome to do that. We never said we did not borrow. We went to the capital market. We borrowed N25bn. What we did with the N25bn we borrowed from the capital market is clear. It is palpable, the projects are there. People know where the pavilion is, Ekiti Parapo Square, people know where the Government House is; people know where the Civic Centre that we were constructing is. People know what we did with Ikogosi warm spring and the roads that were fixed. People know where Oke Ayaba is and the College of Agriculture. Apart from these things, we know how much the Ekiti State Government owes banks and how much has been paid and the balance. If you borrow from the bank, there will be terms that will be followed. There is no month since 2011 that we defaulted in the payment of N500m.

Fayose said the state was paying N1.5bn every month on the bond from Ekiti allocation?

I am not known to be a frivolous person. I am also not known to be a rude person. All I will say with regard to that it is that it is either the current governor has not been properly briefed about it by his officials or not conversant with the finances of the state the way he should be as the head of the government. What is deducted is fixed. It is obvious, it is known. There is something that is called ISPO (Irrevocable Standing Payment Order) on every loan that you have taken, this has the the approval of the Debt Management Office of the Federal Government and the Ministry of Finance. I have these figures. I get these figures not just for my government, I get them from the DMO, I get them from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The last time I checked on Ekiti bond that we took, we paid N498m every month and definitely not N1.5bn.

We know you are not the direct successor to the sitting governor in his first term, but he said he left N10.4bn in the state coffers when he left the office in 2006.

Available records dispute that. I know how much was in the MDGs funds, I know how much was in the Ministry of Agriculture fund, because I actually don’t abdicate my responsibility. Yes, I delegate what is necessary, but I stay on top of this game and on top of these issues as far as governance and finances are concerned. I can tell you categorically the money left in the account because I have checked the records. When Governor Fayose left abruptly on October 16, 2006, incidentally I was active in that short lived government. Some of you may know that I was involved with the late Sir Friday Aderemi and his team, so I knew what transpired. And I can tell you the figures available. I checked this when I got into government. He left about N3.5bn in the coffers. Definitely not anything near N10.4bn bandied around. I have also heard him say it, but you know if you keep lying, the philosophy of governance of Ayo Fayose is predicated on one thing and one thing only, lies. He believes that if you lie as repeatedly as possible, the lie would become the truth, especially if it is not challenged. And you would see that even with that N3.5bn I am talking about, he left a lot of unpaid contractual obligations. We also had unpaid contractor obligations before we left office, but you have to factor that into whatever is left in the coffers of the state. He did not leave N10.4bn, he left N3.5bn in the state account and I challenge him to bring out any information to the contrary.

The present administration in Ekiti accused your government of not paying for the cars bought for the traditional rulers in Ekiti. Why did you not pay for them?

Like I said earlier, this government is fond of lying. The belief of the present governor of Ekiti is if he continues lying, the lies would become the truth. He told me personally before that if you want to play politics you must know how to lie. Whenever he thinks of some issues, he will think up a big lie, and while you are dealing with that one, he will think up another one. This is a typical example of what I have been saying. Because I don’t often speak, people fail to know the truth about these things. There is no ruler in Ekiti who got vehicles that were not paid for. We bought two sets of vehicles. We bought vehicles from Coscharis Company for the obas, we bought vehicles for civil servants from the same company. All the vehicles bought for the obas have been totally paid for. What is not paid for completely were those purchased for the civil servants.

What about the controversy on the new Government House that it was built for N3.5bn and that it has yet to be completed, even though it has some beds valued at N50m each?

I think people are beginning to know the nature of the governor they have. It is such a surprise that given his experience in governance, he still indulges in make-believe stories. The Ekiti State Government House is not only fully completed but it was fully furnished before I left office. Not only fully completed, I underline that, it is furnished, and in the whole of the country, it is the cheapest Government House built by any government in the 36 states of the country. If you go to Plateau, the Government House was built with N10bn; if you go to Kaduna, they spent N9bn for their Government House. I have not mentioned Akwa Ibom Government House. The Ekiti State Government House cost N2.1bn. It would not have got to that amount if not for the fact that it was built on top of a rocky hill. The amount spent on the foundation is up to N1bn. This was because they needed to blast the rock and level the ground and create the roads leading to the top of the hill before they started building. If you examine the Government House very well, some people who know about building very well had come to ask about the company that built the house for that amount. Some other company would not have collected less than N5bn. Those people that are accusing me of spending money anyhow are living in the Government House as I am talking to you right now. They are still saying they want to award the road leading to the house, but the road was perfect before I left office, I don’t know what they want to do on it. You should know that I have my people in government.

Fayose said he has refused to move into the house.

Even if he refuses to move in, why is he using the generator of the house? I listened to the programme where he said they are spending so much money on diesel to power the generators of the house and yet he says he is not living there. Is he now powering the generators of the house for nothing? The house we built is four in one. It has an office, the conference room, the governor’s lodge and so on. There is nothing bad in hosting meetings there, but he just wants to justify his own actions. That is why I said the foundation of this Ekiti government is built on lies. It is a pity that someone like him that God decided to favour is turning around to be saying things that are untrue. He should be grateful for getting back that position, whether by crook or any other means and not resorting to lies. It doesn’t make any sense to be castigating my government. I have built the Government House, nothing can change it. What is he lying about? You are sleeping there, you are lying that you are not sleeping there. Your wife is sleeping there, you are lying that she is not sleeping there. He is lying that we bought a bed of N50m, is there any where in the world that you will find a bed of N50m? I said it before that he told me personally that if you want to govern, you have to learn how to lie. Those he is telling that Fayemi bought a bed of N50m, let them ask him for the receipt of the bed. In my government there was nothing I bought without a receipt. I did not award contracts verbally. There was no contract without papers. I cannot ask anybody to go and do a job for government without a concrete agreement. None of my family members did any contract for the government; let anyone with contrary evidence contradict me. I am not a dubious person. I have told them, if they see any hidden thing about my government, let them probe me.

One of the allegations the present government levelled against you is the contract of Egbe Dam, that there is nothing on the ground to show for the huge sums voted for the project?

I have told you the present administration in Ekiti does not do proper findings about the business of government before coming out to make statements. I want to believe that some people are deceiving him. Let him go and do a personal research of every contract executed by my government. Anybody who has the knowledge of the job he did on the Egbe Dam should educate him and let him go and find out from the traditional rulers in the area who can educate him. He should also ask neighbouring communities around Egbe, like Aisegba, Egbe and Ilu Omoba whether they have potable water or not. These are the places the dam is serving with potable water. Fayose can verify. The work at the dam was to be completed by a $50m expected from the World Bank before we left office.

Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

Contact: editor@punchng.com