Fayemi Faults Atiku over Comment on Ekiti’s Economic Blueprint

•  Inaugurates Buhari’s campaign team in Ekiti

By Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has clarified that he never sought 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 input on the state’s economic blueprint to engender good governance in the state was not only deceptive but not the true position of things.

The governor had 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 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 pilling units to the party, which he said would be actualised through hardwork.

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

“The PDP candidate was quoted as saying that 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 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 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 Mohammadu Buhari’s presidential campaign in 2015, and he  delivered on the assignment”.

Fayemi added that he would like to believe  Alhaji Abubakar 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”.

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.