Ekiti 2018 and Fayemi: Will he, won’t he?

BY SEYI IBILOYE

As the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC) formally released timetable for the 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State, tongues are beginning to wag in which direction the pendulum will swing in the state. Although no fewer than forty aspirants, including prominent names like former Governor Segun Oni, Senators Babafemi Ojudu and Gbenga Aluko, have emerged on the scene, the big conundrum on the horizon in APC is whether the immediate past Governor of the state and current Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, is going to throw his hat in the gubernatorial ring.

While it is not clear if Fayemi is keen to do so having spoken about the unfinished business of the 2014 election in the state (in reference to the criminal role of security agencies in that election) and the determined effort of his party to seek judicial review of what has become popularly known as EkitiGate, there is a growing campaign on the part of some of his loyalists that regardless of the outcome of the judicial review, Ekiti needs him to return to rescue her from years of ruin, pillage and pestilence. Even at that, opinion remains divided among political pundits between those who favour his return, as the most prominent and visible politician in APC who has been uncompromising in his opposition to the PDP juggernaut in the state and the one capable of rallying both local and national support to rout Fayose and those who believe he should stay above the fray and help to determine who gets the APC ticket in the state.

As someone who does not see politics as a ‘do or die’ affair, it is difficult to discern any burning ambition in the Minister. Many remember with admiration how he conceded defeat in the controversial 2014 election in a manner atypical of an average Nigerian politician. Every time he is asked the million dollar question as to whether he plans to return to Ekiti, he has always insisted that he has a job courtesy of the President’s good gesture and he is committed to the success of the Buhari administration through effective accomplishment of promises made to Nigerians. As a prominent member of the Federal Executive Council, there is no doubt that a lot will depend on whether or not President Buhari would release him to go back to Ekiti to run.  He remains one of the most trusted “Buharists” from the Southwest zone and it is almost certain that if the President is positive about him running as part of a bigger picture in the 2019 plans, he will do it. Equally, if the President says that he still needs him in Abuja – as part of plans to consolidate the Buhari administration, it is difficult to see him do otherwise.

There is of course little doubt that he clearly has a pride of place in President Buhari’s heart ever since he conducted the well regarded December 2014 Presidential primaries that gave candidate Buhari the APC ticket. And since his appointment as a Ministeragainst all the odds, he appears to have remained strongly in the good books of his boss.

To confirm his pride of place in President Buhari’s heart,
virtually every federal appointment from his state has been ceded to him. In fact, only two appointments from Ekiti appeared not to have had his imprimatur – that of the Political Adviser to the President in the office of the Vice President, Senator Babafemi Ojudu and the Chairman of the Board of Nigeria Ports Authority – Mr Emmanuel Adesoye. His former Commissioner for Education, Dr Eniola Ajayi, is now the country’s ambassador to Hungary; the new Solicitor-General of the Federation, Dayo Apata was his Solicitor General in Ekiti State; his Agriculture Commissioner, Jide Arowosafe, is the Executive Director (Operations) at NIRSAL, the Central Bank subsidiary in charge of Anchor Borrowers Agric lending. His Deputy Governor, Professor Dupe Adelabu is the Chair of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE); and his Finance Commissioner, Dapo Kolawole has just been appointed to the Board of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA). Several other appointments to the Governing Councils of Universities, Polytechnics and Federal Colleges of Education from Ekiti State clearly bear his stamp. Indeed, apart from Lagos and Ogun States, Ekiti boasts of the highest number of appointees from the South West so far.

Beyond this, he has also used his position in government to gain concession for the inclusion of Ekiti State into the Western Standard Gauge Rail Line and also attracted the construction of the Federal Secretariat in Ado Ekiti. Only recently too, he facilitated relief materials for flood victims in the state through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). This is in addition to other Ekiti sons and daughters he has assisted with employment in various institutions of state.

In the politics of the South West, he is often regarded with Governor Amosun of Ogun State as the leader of the Young Turks who consistently argue that South West political leadership should be more inclusive and supportive of President Buhari. In this regard, he became the arrow head for the delivery of the APC candidate Rotimi Akeredolu in the November 26, 2016 election in Ondo State. Ondo was a difficult assignment for which he was wrongly derided in some circles as a betrayer and the ‘Akintola’ of South West but he said his action was driven by conviction and loyalty to his party and the president. His delivery on that assignment has enhanced his standing politically in the President’s circles – especially given the forces arraigned against the President’s team in Ondo.

His involvement in promoting the Buhari brand in the political realm has not deterred him from expanding the importance of a hitherto redundant solid minerals sector in the nation’s economy. Since assuming duty in November 2015, he has worked so hard to re-position the sector and use it as a vehicle for President Buhari’s diversification agenda. Some of his achievements include the new roadmap for the sector, enhanced geological data, increased revenue generation, financial support for artisanal and small scale miners, improved cooperation between the federal government, states and host communities in mineral resources development, improved transparency in the sector and a determined enforcement of the laws and regulations undergirding the sector, thus improving investor confidence.

In addition to his work in Mining, he has also been very supportive in the President’s foreign policy agenda, helping with the campaigns of Nigeria’s candidates for key positions in international organisations and also with the President’s programmes in the annual United Nations’ General Assembly amongst other mostly unreported assignments. His commitment to the success of the Buhari administration is a matter beyond debate and his optimism that the Administration will laugh last is infectious even if it runs counter to the feelings on the opposing side.

Although his focus has often been party unity and effective mobilization of party members in Ekiti State ever since he left office, Ekiti APC has not been immune to internal challenges. This probably informed the Minister’s regular convening of quarterly meetings of Ward, LGA and State executives of the party since December 2015 barely a month after assuming duties as the Minister representing Ekiti and these meetings have been held consistently. The last edition took place a couple of weeks ago at his Isan Ekiti country home. At the September meeting, he was reported to have reiterated his well-known position on party unity and commended those who have expressed interest in running for office as great mobilisers that have kept the spirit of party and members alive. Many had predicted that he was going to use the September 30 meeting to announce his interest in the race, but this did not happen even as some followers openly demanded for this.

This uncertainty on whether he will run or not has thrown many into confusioneven as the ruling party has gone ahead to announce Dr Olusola Eleka, currently the deputy governor, as itscandidate for the 2018 Governorship election. Yet if there is one candidate the incumbent Governor seems mortally afraid of contemplating as the flagbearer of the APC and eventual successor, it is the Fayemi. This seemed to have informed every effort to nail him via petitions to EFCC and the setting up of a hurried judicial commission of inquiry in the state. Unfortunately for Governor Fayose, many of the claims taken before the EFCC and the Panel in the state appear to have been dead on arrival. For example, the claim that Fayemi stole N852million SUBEB fund had been debunked by Access Bank that provided the counterpart fund. The Ado Ekiti Manager of the Bank testifying before the Panel of Inquiry confirmed that the Bank recalled the money when there was no agreement with the Fayose administration on the terms and conditions of the loan. An investigation panel set up by Governor Fayose and chaired by the retired Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ademola Ajakaiye also absolved Fayemi of any malfeasance on SUBEB funds. Equally, the claim that he misappropriated the N25 billion bond taken by his administration for infrastructure development has proved to be a red herring given the physical evidence of the various projects and the independently audited evidence of judicious utilization of the resources obtained.

With the INEC timetable released, it would not be long before the conundrum in the state is resolved. Inevitably, Dr Fayemi will have to express the intention, if he has any, within the timeframe stipulated by INEC. Whether he runs or not, it is clear the last has not been heard of this urbane intellectual who sees politics and leadership as service and sacrifice, not ambition and opportunism.

Ibiloye, a public affairs analyst, writes from Ado-Ekiti