Why Ekiti People Voted For Me, Ayo Fayose Reveals
The newly-elected governor of Ekiti State, western Nigeria, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has explained why he was chosen ahead of the incumbent governor, Kayode Fayemi, by the people of the state to rule them once again.
Fayose, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was declared the winner of the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) 4am on Sunday, 22 June, 2014.
According to the electoral body, the former governor of Ekiti from 2003 to 2006 scored 203, 090 number of votes to beat the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Fayemi, who scored 120, 433 votes, to the second position.
The candidate of the Labour Party, Bamidele Michael Opeyemi scored 18,135 votes to come third.
Speaking in an interview televised by African Independent Television, AIT, few minutes ago, Fayose stated that he was able to defeat the incumbent governor because of his familiarity with the people of Ekiti State.
According to the PDP candidate, if the governorship election is re-conducted 20 times, he would still win because he is loved by the people of the state.
Fayose also stated that he might not be as educated as incumbent Governor Fayemi and Mr. Opeyemi but he is loved by the people of Ekiti because they know he has always identified with the people of the grassroots.
* Ekiti State's Governor-elect, Ayo Fayose
He said: "I may not have a Phd or Doctorate degree like most of my opponents, but I can tell you the names of every councillor in Ekiti State.
" I don't have have a SAN, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, but the people of Ekiti gave me SAM, Senior Advocate of the Masses, because they see me as a man of the people."
Commenting on the concession speech of Governor Fayemi, Fayose says: " I commend the governor for coming out to congratulate me few minutes after I was declared winner of the election. And like I said earlier, I am ready to work with him and Mr. Opeyemi for the greatness of Ekiti State."
When asked about the crisis that happened before and during the governorship election, the governor-elect said: "It is very sad that a lot of violence occurred during the campaign period. Now is the time for us (I,the incumbent governor and Mr Opeyemi) to go round the state and rally our supporters to come together and see how we could move Ekiti forward.
" I am ready to go with both of them across the state for us supporters to know we need to work together for the sake of everybody in Ekiti."
Fayose also commended INEC for conducting a free and fair governorship election in Ekiti State, saying that the only blemish was that there were too many people going about with huge money on the day of the election to buy peoples' votes.
He called for a law that would sentence anybody that is caught giving out money to buy votes.
When asked about bags of rice that had his image allegedly given out to people of Ekiti before the election day, Fayose said: " It is in my character to give out food to people when they come to my house. I don't have money to give to people but I can afford to give food items like eggs, yams and rice to people that I know are in need of such items. It has been my habit even before I became governor of Ekiti state in 2003."
It could be recalled that during his first term as governor, Mr. Fayose was impeached and subsequently charged to court for an alleged N1.2 billion fraud.
Prosecutors from the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, told the court that Mr. Fayose converted the money meant for a poultry project for his personal use. The case is still in court.
Source: Legit.ng
