I Never Sought Economic Blueprint from Atiku, Says Ekiti Gov

By Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has clarified that he never sought for economic blueprint from former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to govern the state after winning the July 14, 2018 elections.

He said the statement credited to Atiku that he approached him to seek his inputs on Ekiti’s economic blueprint to engender good governance in the state was not only deceptive but not the true position of things.

The governor also assured the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the party will work hard for President Muhammadu Buhari to win Ekiti in the next presidential poll.

Fayemi while inaugurating the Buhari/Osinbajo campaign council, which he chaired with Dr Olusegun Osinkolu as its Director General on Saturday, said the target is to deliver all the 2,195 polling units to the party, which he said would be actualised through hard work.

In a statement signed by Fayemi’s Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, Sunday, Fayemi said: “Our attention has been drawn to media reports of a meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, with the business community in Lagos on Thursday.

“The PDP candidate was quoted as saying that Ekiti State Governor, Dr Fayemi, had upon his election last year July, approached him for an economic policy document and that he obliged him one.

“We would like to believe that the former vice-president was misquoted on this matter as nothing of such ever happened.

“For the sake of the general public, it is important to set the record straight, Governor Fayemi never had any personal encounter with Vice-President Abubakar when he ran for office in 2007 and he could not have asked him for policy ideas then and even in 2018 when he ran for his second term. While Dr Fayemi has always extended usual courtesies to the former vice-president, the two men have not seen in the last two years.

“Dr Fayemi’s policy document ‘Making Poverty History in Ekiti State – The Eight Point Agenda’ was produced and widely circulated in 2006, a year ahead of the 2007 election. Again, in 2018, his policy document, ‘Reclaiming our Land, Restoring Our Values’, containing the four pillars of his agenda was not a product of any encounter of the former VP.

“As a scholar of democratic governance, policy formulation and articulation is Dr Fayemi’s forte and that probably was the reason he was put in charge of Policy, Strategy and Research in the President Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential campaign in 2015, and he delivered on the assignment.”

Fayemi added that he would like to believe Atiku was misquoted and treat this as one of those social media exaggerations.

“If he actually made the allegations at the meeting as reported, then it is unfortunate and unbecoming of a politician desirous of occupying the highest office in the land,” he said.

The DG of Buhari/Osinbajo campaign outfit, Dr. Osinkolu, urged his team to brace up for a titanic battle ahead to ensure the party wins Ekiti in every election.

“With us winning Ekiti in the governorship election against all odds, Ekiti has become a no-go area for the PDP.

“However, we are not going to underrate anybody. We shall work hard to deliver victory and we know the task will be achieved,” he said.