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| Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose |
- Gov urges Buhari to devalue naira
- Ekiti leader denies alleged vice presidential bid
Former
Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Mr. Temitope
Aluko, who made far-reaching allegations against Governor Ayodele Fayose over
the June 21, 2014 governorship election, was on Sunday night seen with the
governor in Lagos.
They
were seen with the former factional Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr.
Dele Olugbemi at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island Lagos.
The trio
were intercepted by journalists at the hotel around 11:30 p.m. Aluko who wore
trousers and a sky blue shirt was seen walking shoulder-to-shoulder in animated
and obviously amicable conversation with the governor.
Meanwhile,
Fayose, who expressed dismay over the harsh economic situation Nigerians are
currently undergoing, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to devalue the
naira without further delay to alleviate the sufferings of the masses.
He also
denied nursing a vice presidential ambition for the 2019 election.
“It is a
lie from the pit of hell that I am planning to contest as a running mate to the
current PDP’s interim National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff. I am not
even going to contest for Senate,” he said.
Aluko
had recently in Abuja alleged that federal might was used to subvert the
Ekiti governorship election by former President Goodluck Jonathan and
security agents to favour Fayose. He also claimed that the exercise that saw
the return of the governor was not credible but a ‘coup’ against Ekiti people.
Aluko
who has been Fayose’s friend for over 40 years and former chairman, Security
and Intelligence Committee of the governor’s campaign organization, also
expressed regret over his role in the election.
He
alleged that Jonathan gave Fayose $37 million cash to prosecute the poll in
which security agents, including soldiers, were allegedly deployed against the
opposition, the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in the state. He,
however, fell out with Fayose when the latter reneged on his pre-election
promise to make Aluko his chief of staff.
When
asked what he was doing with Fayose during that hour of the day, Aluko, visibly
confused responded: “We had a wedding yesterday and the whole family came
down and we had all other well-meaning Nigerians around. In the last one and a
half hours, I have met with my brother, Governor Ayodele Fayose, so we are
resolving the issue, we have made appreciable progress and we hope and pray to
God that there will be peace. There are insinuations in the past but now we are
working together, well- meaning Nigerians have intervened and we will make
progress in Ekiti.”
Aluko
also denied that his meeting with Fayose was about his ambition for a political
position.
When he
was further asked whether he would like to recant all the allegations he
earlier made against the governor, Aluko, who was at that point sweating
profusely and fidgeting, was short of words but Fayose immediately intervened,
drew him closer, placed his hand across his shoulder and said: “Let me assist
you. He, Aluko, has said that we have all made considerable progress. In
politics, we have to resolve the issues and we have made considerable progress
like he said.
On
whether he has forgiven Aluko over the weighty allegations and public
embarrassment the action might have caused him, Fayose said: “I am the father
of Ekiti, Dr. T. K. Aluko remains my boy, my subject, my brother, whatever the
past has held for us, we still have to move forward. There is no gainsaying
that yesterday has come and gone but we are moving God helping us.”
On his
part, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communications and New
Media, Lere Olayinka described the meeting in Lagos of Aluko with the Fayose as
a vindication of his position that he (the embattled politician) “can make a
360 degree turnaround and return to the same Governor that he claimed rigged
election.”
Olayinka,
who said he was speaking in his personal capacity, added: “Being the person
that faced Aluko in television interviews where he told all the lies that he
told against Governor Fayose and the people of Ekiti State, I am constrained to
make my position known on this new development.
“Even
though Governor Fayose, being someone with large heart may not be too happy
that I am making this statement, but as one of the major dramatis personae in
the whole saga, my conscience won’t allow me to just keep silent after all the
pains and confusion caused by Aluko.
“I did
say on Channels Television that giving the right situation or after Aluko must
have concluded his scamming of the APC and its gullible leaders, he will return
to Governor Fayose and recant everything that he had said.
“Today,
I have been vindicated because Aluko has done just that and I wonder how he
will feel when he comes face to face with the people that he has destroyed. I
wonder how he will feel when he comes face to face with those fine military
officers that he went to Kaduna to lie against and made them to lose their
jobs.
“Also, I
wonder how those who funded him will be feeling now, having failed to listen
when I was consistently saying that they were being duped. I wonder how the
Department of State Services (DSS) men who took Aluko’s lies and acted on them
by invading the State House of Assembly will feel now that they have integrity
problem because of what he (Aluko) made them to do.
“However,
I salute my boss, Governor Fayose for once again displaying his statesmanship
because only a statesman with a large heart can hold the hands of someone like
TKO Aluko after all that he did to pull down his government.”
Source:
Bookmia Online Books
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