Fayose Rules out Senatorial Contest in 2019

Keeps mum on Buhari’s health
Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
In spite of the insinuations that the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose, is eyeing either the vice presidential or senatorial positions in 2019, the governor yesterday clarified that he would never seek any elective position again.

He said his main preoccupation after his exit in 2018 is to continue to agitate for better treatments for the Nigerian populace from the federal and state governments.

Fayose, however, kept mum on the health status of President Muhammadu Buhari, which had been rumoured to have degenerated, saying “let me wait for some time and see how event unfolds before making my submission on the issue.”
The governor said these in Ado Ekiti, yesterday during a meeting with civil servants on grade levels one to seven in the state civil service.

Fayose, who saluted the workers for their courage and perseverance in the face of the economic recession, culminating in unstable payment of salaries, urged them to discountenance the rumour being allegedly peddled on social media by members of the opposition that he had received the second tranche of the Paris Club fund.

He said what the state got so far was the sum of N8.8 billion, which was shared between the state and local government, “with over 70 per cent of it expended on the payment of salaries instead of the 50 per cent agreed with the Federal Ministry of Finance.”
On his political ambition, Fayose advised the workers to register during the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercising, saying “I am not saying this because of any political interest, but because of Ekiti interest. I don’t want to contest again, not even for senatorial race in 2019.

“One thing I have learnt is that Ekiti people don’t normally participate in some government policies where data are collated. And it used to affect us in getting extra grants or favour from the federal government and international agencies.

“The federal government is planning to renovate 1,000 health centres in Nigeria and Ekiti got only three. When I enquired, they said the data used to compile the figures didn’t favour Ekiti. If they are to register for polio vaccine, our people won’t make themselves available, because of nonchalant attitude “That is why I won’t care to declare more holidays for people to get
registered. But I want to call on INEC to look into the faulty data capturing machines. We have had bad experiences since the commencement of the CVR programme last week and the commission must resolve all these anomalies in the interest of our people.

“I also want to note that all these problems won’t reoccur during the 2018 poll, that is the main reason why INEC as a commission must improve on its efficiency,” he said.

Fayose told the workers to indicate interest in the Fadama Graduate Unemployed Youth Support Pgrogramme for the training of 300 people in Ekiti that would specialise in commercial farming.
The governor added that the government is ready to give the necessary impetus to workers that show interest in agriculture.