Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti, has queried the source of former president Olusegun Obansanjo’s wealth, claiming that he siphoned public funds.
Speaking in an interview with Osasu Igbinedion on The Osasu Show, Fayose also said President Muhammadu Buhari is clueless about the state of Nigeria’s economy. “I am the longest-serving governor, I’ve served in Obasanjo’s administration. I told everybody, when Obasanjo left prison, did he declare his assets? The library now today, where did the money come from,” he asked.
“His house that he built in Abeokuta, where did the money come from? Even Buhari himself, he declared cattle herds and mud houses, he said he doesn’t have money. From which account did the money for the campaign come from?
“We are fooling ourselves, because he’s in power today, to say he’s the one prosecuting; somebody else might be there tomorrow. It’s unfortunate that men of honour of yesterday are quiet today.”
He said Obasanjo shared money to senators from his state during his failed third-term plan, adding that he is a veteran who cannot be scared of Buhari’s anti-corruption war.
“During the third-term agenda that money was given to senators and reps, they were given in my state. It is good to Obasanjo to come to the television every day and celebrate himself, or go to prostrate at the villa. Let me tell you expressly, the truth would find all of us out at some point.”
Quoting Hebrews 13:6, Fayose said he could not be afraid of whatever Buhari could do to him, saying: “…because we have God, we fear not what man would do to us.” Fayose called on Buhari to “stop the noise about corruption” and concentrate on the economy,” saying the president seems to have no plan for diversification while investing billions in the search for oil in the north.
“Last month, I got N1.3 billion; my wage bill is N2.6 billion, asides security, electricity, water and basic essential services to the people. Do I use this money for diversification at the expense of the people? No, I can’t. It’s not impossible, it’s an uphill task.
“My first counsel to the federal government is that he should stop the noise about corruption, he should concentrate on the economy. Rebuild this economy.
“You want to diversify, you’re still putting over N100 billion, over N150 billion to exploring oil in the north. It shows a leader that is sectional. When we want to diversify, we diversify the country’s economy, not an economy that is sectional.
“If anybody is telling you he can create any jobs in this economy, he is lying. I don’t want to come before this camera and tell Nigerians lies. My wings are clipped financially.”
“The only thing I’m trying to do in Ekiti is to make sure I plan trees everywhere, economic trees; in 10 years it would become of great benefit. It is difficult for me to come before the camera to start telling you I’m creating jobs.”
He said he had been paying one-month salaries with allocations from two months: “In my prediction, I said it that Buhari does not have clue, he’s still in an analogue stage, he does not have clue about the economy of Nigeria. I’m saying it expressly; the president does not understand (the) economy.
“If you understand the economy, you can do everything simultaneously, without rocking the boat of the whole country. You go out of the country to tell the world your country is corrupt, you destroy your own people. Who would come and do business with them?” (TheCable)
