The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Peter Ayodele Fayose, was
on Thursday sworn-in by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayodeji Daramola.
Fayose made history, not just as the first Governor to
defeat two incumbent governors at two attempts, but also as the first Ekiti man
to become Governor twice.
The programme commenced with opening prayers rendered by the
CAN President of Ekiti State, Apostle Peter Ogungbile.
Before administering the oath on the Governor, his Deputy,
Dr. Kolapo Olubunmi Olusola had first taken the oath of allegiance and the oath
of office.
The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Omirin put party
affiliation aside and attended the ceremony. The Governor’s mother, Pastor (Mrs.)
Oluwayose too was there to witness the return of her beloved son to the office
of the Governor.
The President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was represented by the
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’ azu who was
accompanied by Governors Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, Olusegun Mimiko
of Ondo, Ramalan Yero of Kaduna, Liyel Imoke of Cross River, Isa Yuguda of
Bauchi as well as the governors of Abia and Katsina States. The immediate past
Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi too was in tow.
Just before his inaugural address, Governor Fayose called on
8 members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, including Honourables Ajikoye (Oye
I), Adeloye Adeyinka (Ikole), Adun Olayinka (Ado II), Fatunbi Olajide (Moba II),
Olugbemi Joseph (Ikole II) and Adeojo Alex (Ekiti S/W II) who defected from the
All Progressives Congress to the PDP to come forward. Right there, they were officially
received into the PDP by the national chairman.
The Governor opened his speech with a call for a minute’s
silence in honour of Omolafe Aderiye, who was shot dead about three weeks ago.
He also said the silence was for the repose of the soul of the APC in Ekiti
State.
In his address, Governor Fayose said “I am blessed and it is
evident that God is with me. My emergence is divine, the more they fight me,
the more they make me popular all over the world. ”
Speaking further, Fayose said “I am here to serve you. That
is my assignment. They want me to be the governor of their imagination but I am
the governor of your imagination. The Governor that eats booli with you, the governor that drinks agbo jedi with you. The Governor that celebrates teachers with you.
Ekiti has been battling with my removal and there was no
peace until I returned. This morning, God told me that I should tell the people
that I have forgiven Ekiti for removing me unjustly and declare peace to Ekiti.”
While thanking the people for their support, the Governor
said “since 2006, God has kept me love in your heart. God is a God of second
chance. It is difficult for a man in a fallen state to get such a chance. I
thank you.”
He did not end the speech without reeling out some of his
plans. “I will banish hunger. They said we did stomach infrastructure. It is
because they are too clean in their own eyes to come to jedi sector. That was why they were too far from the people. I will
appoint a Special Adviser on Stomach Infrastructure because if you tar roads
and the people are hungry, that tar has no meaning to them. Tarring roads is
good, but remember the people need to be taken care of”, he said.
He called on Ekiti indigenes to be ready to defend the
government, saying “Ekiti people cannot be wrong. If you doubt the first one,
will you also doubt the second? It was the same margin with which I defeated
Adebayo that I defeated Fayemi, just that Fayemi was beaten in all the sixteen local
governments. It was 16-0.” He then called on the press to be fair in reporting
the activities of his government.
Fayose also took time to mention some “excesses” of the
Fayemi administration. “They have committed this state to the tune of N 84
billion and that is till the year 2020. Since the former Governor lost elections,
he employed Permanent Secretaries where there were no vacancies, he employed 3,
000 people. Please give me all the necessary cooperation because the next few
months might be rough. ”
He went on to state that the immediate past administration incurred a deficit of N 522 million on a monthly basis. "How can a government be this reckless?" he queried.
He went further that "our state has been plunged into heavy debts and they refused to pay salaries after the elections."
The Governor's first instruction was to the Head of Service, who he directed to return all officers to their substantive positions as of June 21, 2014.
Fayose also revealed that "their machination is to demonize me and paint me as a violent person but let me tel you that the role of some of our judicial officers are already being investigated by the appropriate authorities. I am going to work harmoniously with the judiciary, I look forward to working with my Chief Judge. We will make sure Ekiti comes first before all considerations."
He also called on the Speaker of the House of Assembly to take the olive branch from him and work with his government.
The Chairman of the South West Mobilization Committee of the
PDP, Prince Buruji Kashamu was at the event with members of his Omo Ilu
Foundation.
From Oyo State came governorship aspirants, Prof Soji
Adejumo, former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin and Engr. Seyi Makinde. The
SURE-P Coordinator for Oyo State, Hon Dare Adeleke too was on hand to lend some
support.
Members of the PDP in Ekiti State were the chief hosts. The
most visible were the state Chairman, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, Prof T.K.O Aluko, the Secretary, Hon. Olatunji Odeyemi, a
former Acting Governor and Speaker of the Ekiti Assembly.
From Abuja came Oloye Jumoke Akinjide and Prince Dayo
Adeyeye, the Ministers of State for Transport and the Federal Capital Territory
respectively.
Also in attendance were Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and
Senator Iyiola Omisore.
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