BREAKING NEWS, Featured, Politics
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Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti State, appears to have taken his attacks on the President Muhammadu Buhari administration a bit too far when he expresses doubts about the worldly acknowledged abduction of Chibok schoolgirls in Borno State by Boko Haram sect in 2014
| By Olu Ojewale | Apr 11, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT |
GOVERNOR Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State is, arguably, an unrepentant virulent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari even before the retired military general picked the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress to contest the presidential election, last year. At any given opportunity, Fayose has remained true to his position, attacking the president on any issue of national interest.
The governor added a new dimension to his criticisms when on Wednesday, March 30, he declared that no student was abducted by Boko Haram from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, in April 2014 as claimed by government.
More than 200 students were reportedly adopted by the terror group on April 14, 2014. But Fayose said the report was politically motivated to influence public opinion against the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration ahead of the 2015 general elections.
The governor barred his mind while declaring open a two-day workshop on “Political Aspirants Capacity Enhancement” organised for women from Ekiti, Osun and Ondo states by Women Arise for Change Initiative. Fayose said: “Today, many opposition leaders are underground… I don’t know if there are missing girls but no indication has shown that. It is a political strategy, because I don’t think any girl is missing. If they are missing, let them find them.”
As expected, Fayose’s statement has received condemnation from various quarters, especially those in the Buhari government.
In an interview on Thursday, March 31, Joe Igbokwe, Lagos State publicity secretary of the APC, said Fayose had subjected himself to public ridicule with his comments. Igbokwe said: “It pains me to no end that we are still providing a chance for world-class joker, Fayose, to continue to insult our intelligence. Fayose is an indictment on all of us, especially the educated people of Ekiti State.
“Fayose is a punishment to the people of Nigeria and Ekiti State. The people deserve the kind of government they get. Again, the relocation of Ekiti lawmakers to Oyo State is not unconnected with the house of fraud called Ekiti Government House. Nothing good can come out of Ekiti as long as Fayose is there. Out of nothing comes nothing. You cannot give what you do not have.”
Charles Idahosa, a political adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, on Thursday, March 31, took a swipe at Fayose, calling him as a “fraudster”. The chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, APC, said the governor’s persistent attack on President Buhari was to whip up sentiment from the public, “knowing that his sins will soon catch up with him”.
Idahosa said: “It’s just a pity that Nigerians tend to forget history fast. I am always shocked when people take Fayose seriously. This regular attack on Buhari is to prepare the ground because he knows he will go down. He wondered why Fayose had taken up the position of spokesman for the People Democratic Party, PDP.
Isiaka Adeleke, former governor of Osun State, and now senator representing Osun-West senatorial district, said Fayose should put himself in the shoes of the schoolgirls’ parents, adding that even former President Jonathan later admitted that the schoolgirls were kidnapped.
Adeleke, a member of the APC, said the governor should not trivialise the issue as touchy as that of the abducted girls. He advised Fayose to “use his time wisely and pray for the safe return of these girls.”
Similarly, Baimdele Faparusi, a former member of the House of Representatives and an APC chieftain in Ekiti State, in a newspaper interview, described Fayose’s claim as a threat to national security.
Faparusi said the governor’s statement had insulted the sensibilities of the families of the missing girls and called on the security agencies to invite the governor for questioning to shed more light on where possibly the girls were being kept.
The APC leader argued: “The world-renowned activist, Malala, came to Nigeria to visit Dr Goodluck Jonathan and begged that these children must be recovered. Even after the abduction, some of these girls escaped and were later reunited with their families when Jonathan was still in the saddle. Could it be inferred here that the former president who is also a member of Fayose’s party, had lied against his own administration?”
Even if Jonathan had lied about it, the Boko Haram sect admitted the abduction and showed a video clip of the more than 200 girls in captivity, which caused a global outrage.
Also in a recent interview, Andrew Pocock, a former British high commissioner to Nigeria, said that the United States and the United Kingdom intelligence surveillance located the missing girls at the Boko Haram forest but could not do anything as Nigerian authorities did not ask for help.
So, who should Nigerians believe? Is it Fayose who seems to be playing politics with everything in order to emphasise his position as leader of the opposition? Whatever, the last has not been heard of the governor’s controversies, and definitely not until the riddle surrounding the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls is unravelled.
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