Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has declared that his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayodele Fayose, has no constitutional or moral right to stop him from coming to Ekiti to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Kayode Fayemi.
He said recent threats by Fayose, regarding his support for Fayemi, can not hold water, just as he warned Ekiti state governor against violence ahead of the July governorship election in the state.
Akeredolu, who spoke through the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Yemi Olowolabi, advised Fayose not to make the forthcoming election in Ekiti state a do-or-die affair, alleging that recent events in the state have shown how desperate Fayose is about the election.
He denied allegation by Fayose that he went to EKiti state with no fewer than 150 policemen to cause crisis in Ado
Ekiti, the state capital, during an APC rally where four persons, including an APC chieftain, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, were injured, saying the allegation was a lie from the pit of hell.
“Ekiti state governor has equally repeated his, hitherto, baseless and punctured accusation that Akeredolu is planning to use Ondo State’s two months’ allocations to fund the election of the APC governorship candidate in Ekiti state.
“Ordinarily, we would have ignored the deliberate lies and falsehood, but, we felt we would not be fair to the public if such lies are not debunked. For the information of the doubters, Akeredolu, even if provoked, cannot debase his personality to a level that he will sacrifice the interests of his people for pecuniary gains.
“Instead of engaging in hypocritical activities like eating at motor parks and cutting ‘ponmo’ at the market square, Akeredolu is currently applying the public resources for the betterment of the lives of the people of the state. So, it is interesting to state that Ondo is witnessing massive infrastructure development in all sectors of the state.
“Fayose should be reminded that the Akeredolu-led administration has performed creditably well in the last one year and few months.
“On Friday’s attack in Ekiti, we would like to refer Fayose to a statement by the Ekiti State police spokesperson, Caleb Okechukwu, who cleared the air on the issue. Investigation by the police has revealed that the shooter was a police officer brought from Lagos by an Ekiti politician.
“We, therefore, call the security agencies in the country to take note of the false accusation levelled against Akeredolu by Fayose and his town crier. It is also important for Fayose to know one very important fact that we are committed to the peaceful co-existence between the state and Ekiti.
“The seed of discord Fayose is trying to plant between the two states will not germinate no matter how much cunning he is. Akeredolu reserves every right to show support for the candidate of his party in Ekiti State, just as Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and the rest are showing support for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. There is no law that prohibits that. Fayose and the PDP are making issues out of this because of the smell of defeat that has overwhelmed them,” he said.