The Presidency has uncharacteristically, perhaps naively obliged Ayo Fayose, and it’s now involved in a back and forth with the Ekiti state governor.
Recently, at the graduation ceremony of College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti, the governor called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to address Nigerians on the true state of the economy.
Fayose also spoke about the federal allocation for September, saying it is the lowest-ever federal allocations distributed among the three tiers of the government.
In response, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, warned him about his ‘reckless’ statement, noting that “the governor didn’t get his facts correct.”
He said: “The lowest-ever allocation to the three tiers was issued by the PDP-led Goodluck Jonathan administration.”
“Governor Fayose needs to be advised to desist from spreading falsehood against the person and government of President Muahmmadu Buhari as has become characteristic of him. He needs to get his facts right before making accusations of the nature he makes.
“The governor equally knows full well that his party in government ruined the economy to the extent that workers in 27 states went for several months without salary. This crisis situation has now been reversed in nearly all the states. Governor Fayose is himself in line for the collection of his state’s bailout.
“Under the PDP federal government, ministries were not given overhead costs for five months while the capital budget was unpaid for six months in the run-up to the exit of the PDP administration. Is there anyone in that party with a moral justification to criticise the Buhari administration which is working hard to clean up the mess they (PDP) left behind?”
“Records obtained from the Ministry of Finance show that the decline in federally collected revenues shared by the three tiers didn’t just set in but had become clearly manifest under the PDP administration. In February, N480 billion was distributed. In March it was N459bn; April, N385bn; May, N357bn; June N389bn, and July, N526bn. In August, N499bn was paid out; September, N412bn and N374 in October.”
“As most Nigerians are aware, this decline in revenue has chiefly been caused by the drastic fall in oil prices, compounded by the free-wheeling crude oil theft which was allowed to thrive under the PDP administration in which Governor Fayose was a leading character.”
Fayose, never one to take a schooling in grace, described the warning as a demonstration of military dictatorship mentality.
The governor’s Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, issued a statement saying that his principal is certain that President Buhari did not authorise the statement put out by his spokesperson.
Although Fayose was warned against making false allegations, he said it was sad that the President would be warning him on ‘what to say and what not to say’.
The statement released on behalf of Fayose, said the Presidency is suffering from ‘Acquired Immune Military Dictatorship Syndrome’ (AIMDS).
“Governor Fayose will continue to say the truth in the interest Nigeria and its people because the Governor is not one of those that will go underground because of political persecution.”
“The president himself attested to this when he said that the country was broke and this has also been corroborated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group financial report, indicating that the corporation incurred a total loss of N120.07bn in the months of August and September.
“JP Morgan is also removing Nigeria from its Emerging Market Bond Index, a move analysts say would have far reaching implications for the country’s dwindling economy as investors could move their funds to competing countries, resulting in higher lending rates.
“It is therefore a sad reminder of the military era that in a democracy, under a federation in which all federating units enjoy some degree of autonomy, the Presidency is warning a State Governor on what to say and what not to say. Top functionaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including State Governors criticised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of Dr Goodluck Jonathan, the Presidency did not go about warning them.
“Certainly, these people working with the President need to be purged of Acquired Immune Military Dictatorship Syndrome (AIMDS), even as they must be told that Governor Fayose won’t stop speaking his mind and exposing their hypocrisy in the overall interest of Nigeria and its people.”
“Nigerians are desirous of the change promised by the APC led federal government, but as it stands, no clear direction yet.
“Rather than engage credible Nigerians to help in the revive of the ailing economy, what we have seen from the APC Presidency is appointment of their cronies and political robbers as well as harassment of perceived political opponents with anti corruption agencies and men of the Department of State Security. Leaving issues and attacking Fayose is like hitting ones head on the rock.”
