Ayodele Fayose, a former Governor of Ekiti State, said he is no longer contesting for any political office and will only take “goodies” if his party takes power in 2023.
Fayose, a leader in the Peoples Democratic Party stated this in an interview with ThePunch.
He said: “I’m not looking for anything. The constitution does not allow me to be a governor again and I don’t even want to be again, because it is a very tedious job. I’m not ready to go to any of these other offices; I am not ready. Even if we win the federal and I am given ministerial, I will give it to any of them. Let them go to the field and work and bring goodies to their leader; that is the position.”
Fayose, whose aspirant recently won the governorship ticket of the PDP in Ekiti, also said none of the aspirants in Ekiti will deny that he is their leader.
When asked why he boasted that his aspirant will win and it happened, Fayose said:
“It is not an issue of confidence; it is not an issue for boasting. It is the product of hard work and the fact that none of the aspirants in Ekiti will deny that I am their leader. It is a statement of fact that everybody ordinarily should be Fayose’s person except that issues arise when people decide to choose or create a path for themselves. We have always been working together. The majority of the people that have gone to the National Assembly, who are ex-this or ex-that, are products of leadership and followership, which we built over time. I am a two-term governor of the state. I have led the people. In PDP and in Ekiti, I am the only leader that has won election, defeating two incumbents. I am the only one that has the record of winning in all the 16 local governments in a state election. Forget about the bickering, when a fowl goes out in the morning, it returns to the house of the owner. They all know that I am their leader. That is what is popularly known as ‘Gba fun oga e’ (surrender to your superior). They can’t deny it. We can have differences, but to the glory of God, I am their leader and they cannot deny it.”
Fayose also spoke about his relationship with Governor Kayode Fayemi.
He said: “Fayemi is not my enemy. Oni is not my enemy, former Governor Adeniyi Adebayo is not my enemy. There is no permanent champion. We all have the uncommon privilege of God to serve in this state at different times. That does not make us permanent enemies. Even if we were enemies contesting, at one time, we get old, what is dividing us will no longer be there. So, for what purpose will I now become Adebayo’s enemy, become Oni’s enemy and become Fayemi’s enemy? Nobody is my enemy.”
