Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti
A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Mr Makinde Araoye, has boasted that the standard bearer of his party, Dr Kayode Fayemi, would win the July 14 governorship poll, saying that the Ayodele Fayose administration had already made the job easy for him by not paying workers salaries.
Araoye expressed confidence that civil servants in the state would vote massively for the APC candidate Fayemi, having experienced biting poverty in the last three and half years due to Governor Fayose’s inability to pay workers salaries and pensions.
The APC chieftain, who spoke with journalists in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday, urged workers to vote judiciously and making Fayemi their choice based on his track record and his belief in running worker friendly policies.
“When the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, came on board in 2010, he appreciated the fact that there was an urgent need to establish those investments that could generate money for our dear state,” he said.
“That was why he took N20 billion from the capital market out of which he invested over N2 billion on Ikogosi Warm Spring, built the state pavilion located along new Ado Iyin road, revived Ire Burnt Brick that was inaugurated by former Kano State Governor, Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, set a solid foundation for youth engagement in Agriculture and many others.
“Before Dr Fayemi’s exit, the Ikogosi Warm Spring was already generating over N45 million into the state coffers monthly. The Ire Burnt Brick had begun skeletal production and was attracting serious patronage within and outside Ekiti.
“But today, those programmes have been abandoned. They have returned to the moribund state they were before Dr Fayemi came on board.
“One wonders why those programmes should be rendered impotent just because of politics by Governor Fayose, even when he makes noise everyday that the state is economically challenged.
“This is the major reason why our people must divorce themselves from unnecessary emotions and vote wisely on July 14.
“They should resist attempts by clever politicians to delude them into taking decisions that would land them in more sufferings and gnashing of teeth after all they have seen and been made to pass through in the last few years,” Araoye advised.
Araoye addressed Fayose, saying: “Making our people to queue under a scorching sun for several hours because of a congo of rice and N200 was not only debasing but ridiculing Ekiti’s collective integrity.
“The July 14 election is a reclamation war for all of us. It is a time we must seek our political freedom and this we must realize for those lost glories to return and for us to regain our pride…,” he stated.
