I’m Israel in midst of enemies – Fayose

The first part of this inter­view was published last week. This is the conclud­ing part.

Excerpts:

You said earlier that you actually helped Fayemi to de­feat Segun Oni then, and at that time, you were angling to go to the Senate under ACN…

(Cuts in). You got it wrong there. Let me correct you. From Day one, I was very clear and I said it expressly, that I’m not an ACN or APC person. Read the papers very well. I made it clear then to Asiwaju, he told me to decamp to APC. I said No. Why? Adebayo that I took over power from as Ekiti State governor that time was a leader in APC, what if we have issues? I would be fooling myself to ask Asiwaju to drop Adebayo for me. And by antecedent, no new member will come and upstage an old member. I then told them that we can collaborate with them, and the collaboration meant that I remain where I am.

When I wanted to leave PDP, I didn’t go to APC, I went to join Labour. If I had wanted to join APC, I would have done so. I’m a very clear person when it comes to policies; when it comes to people holding positions in life. I al­ways weigh the options because I don’t like the people… and if you know, it is this attribute the Ekiti people saw in me and decided to bring me back.

Can we rightly say that you are so bitter because that ar­rangement was scuttled?

No, sir. That arrangement wasn’t scuttled because I didn’t join APC in the first place. If I joined APC and I left APC, it is a different ball game.

What I’m saying is that if you were allowed to become a senator …

(cuts in) No, it is not whether they al­lowed me or not, I contested on my own ground; it is not that I wanted their tick­et. If they had given me their ticket that they promised me, it is a different ball game. I was my own man in my own party. The only difference that caused the problem was that we agreed that they would give me a tour of the state to be able to support other members of the Labour Party that I used in supporting them. Not about the ticket. The ticket was the last thing because Fayemi had already become the governor, even 11 months before that time. So, it was in a re-election that they supported their own candidate, rightly or wrongly and they said he won, and I said no. I told him that I didn’t accept the result. I didn’t congratulate him.

Are you saying that you lost that election or your populari­ty was not that strong?

No, I didn’t lose that election. The election was rigged. My coming back obviously proved that. Losing election in Ekiti? Never. I have been in this sys­tem for a long time. You won’t come out to contest an election if you don’t have a consistent political life – winning a gov­ernorship election is not something you come back overnight to win. We are not talking of councillorship, or House of Assembly election. Governorship election is something that affects every home in your state. It was a decision of the people to return me. You can’t win governorship election without people’s acceptance.

What exactly while you were outside power, for eight years, what was it you were doing that endeared you so much to the people that when you came back to con­test governorship election, it didn’t cost you so much to win the poll?

Let me say to you clearly and ex­pressly, I didn’t live in Ekiti throughout my eight years outside power. I spent over 80 per cent of my time in Lagos State. When people don’t test people, they might be saying you are the best, they were able to test Olurin, the Mil­itary Administrator that was appointed to replace me when I was illegally re­moved from office. The people were also able to test Segun Oni; they were also able to test Fayemi. Let me tell you, it is people that decide who will be their governor, not politicians. Even if you say you are coming out of anger or vendetta, your fate is still in the hands of the people. Even if that election was lost in 2011, the consistency of my person in the political arena, and also in keep­ing faith with the people, helped my cause. My work while in government also worked in my favour. For instance, when I left government that first time, I left over N10.5 billion in the treasury, and people were able to see all these differences.

At Ekiti State Government House, 80 per cent of the buildings there were erected by me. The Presidential Lodge, the Governor’s Office, the Osuntokun Building, the Ekiti Hall, the chapel and all the guesthouses were built by me. I have a track record. Let me say this again, although my detractors can deny it, that I was the first governor that did dual-carriage way in Ekiti State, go and ask anybody. And linking this state from one point to another, I did it. But my detractors can deny it, but go and ask the common man about my record. My record is visible for all to see. My detractors are propagandists; they can deny anything. And let me tell you an­other thing I did, things I did for past leaders of this state are things I did for them during their lifetime. Not when they are dead.

Professor Sam Aluko, I built the Ac­countant-General’s Office, and because of what Professor Aluko achieved as an economist in his lifetime, I brought him down to Ekiti State to commission the building himself. I brought Lady Jibowu, the first lady graduate of Ek­iti State to commission Jibowu Hall. I brought baba, the late Adetiloye to commission Adetiloye Hall.

I recognised them in their lifetime. I don’t go to name anything after myself. My own is that, whatever we do today will determine how far we go in life. Forget all about the blackmail.

You see, you know if you look back, the moment they want to get rid of you, they will concoct everything in this world to give a dog a bad name. Obasanjo was here in Ekiti State and sang song that this boy (Fayose) looks like him, and the reason they were jeal­ous of me was that I was his boy.

But let me remind you, you saw what happened yesterday, there couldn’t have been a better way to vindicate a man than to restore him to the former posi­tion he was occupying after removing him illegally. I have no malice against my detractors, because the Bible tells us that everything works together for good for them that love God. I believe in God. Everything is working for good for me.

Apart from Mimiko that just left Labour for PDP, as a PDP state, you are encircled. Are you not worried? Secondly, this presidential election is likely to be determined by the South West where the PDP is not, so to say, in terms of number of governors, on ground, what are you really doing to take South West and swing it in favour PDP?

Don’t forget that in 2011, the whole of South West, Jonathan won.

The APC says there was an alliance then.

That is in their own story – I’m ashamed that Tinubu can also be saying that. That means that Tinubu is selling that party every time. It is part of cred­ibility for you to stand where you are supposed to be standing. It is a shame for somebody to be saying, I’m selling out, then where is the credibility? Where is the integrity? That means you have sold out Nigeria itself. Let me use Israel as an example – Israel is in the midst of enemies. The Israeli nation is surround­ed by enemies, and nobody has defend­ed Israel. Her enemies are afraid of Is­rael. I’m Israel in the midst of enemies. For South West election, if Jonathan, in 2011 won, Jonathan will still win in the zone this time around. Sometimes, history repeats itself and who knows whether Tinubu has not sold out again; who knows.

Imo State’s Rochas Oko­rocha said the other day that seven PDP governors had started discussions with APC for possible crossover to lat­ter party.

(cuts in). You were at the PDP gov­ernors’ forum in Lagos and you heard PDP governors talk. Did their state­ments align with the recklessness of APC? I’ve been saying it for long, that APC people are propagandists. They are consistent at telling lies. I caught them in their game with that picture of Buhari being interviewed by a lady that was taken at Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Lagos, and APC told Nigerians that the picture was taken in London. Do you re­member the saga? That is their charac­ter – they are liars and unabashed, crude propagandists. When I exposed them, they kept quiet, their spokesman (Lai Mohammed) kept quiet permanently, till now.

I want Nigerians to see the records. There is nothing wrong for anybody to run for the presidency. Is he or she is qualified to be there? But Nigerians should not be deceived. I want Nige­rians to see the deception that APC represents. The greatest disservice you can do to yourself is to allow yourself to be fooled when you are supposed to be wise. Nigerians should look at the antecedents of APC. When states are owing too much; when states are borrowing and borrowing life out of their own people, and still borrowing money to inconvenience its own peo­ple, it is bad. And they are not sincere about it. There is so much hypocrisy in everything they do and say. There is always a hidden agenda. I was reading somewhere where they said they would give one meal a day to pupils and pay unemployed graduates for one year. Haba! Look at Lagos State, it generates about N30 billion every month and it can’t give one meal a day to pupils in its schools. Why are these people de­ceiving Nigerians? Why are they fool­ing Nigerians? I don’t want Nigerians to be fooled. That is why you see me, I am a peculiar person; I say the truth without fear of people or of anybody, as long as I am saying the truth. APC is a fraud and I am saying so with clear conscience, no malice.

Your Excellency sir, thank you. Is there anything you want to say to round off this interview?

I just want to tell Nigerians that this game is not for us; that it is always for God to judge because our service is not unto us, but unto God and them. There are people who want to lead them, but they must keep their eyes open; they must choose the right people. I’m 55 (years old) and it is my duty to do well for Nigeria by presenting facts to Nige­rians. I call on Nigerians today to think, and think very well.