A former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has responded to a comment by the founder of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Afe Babalola (SAN) who described former governors of the state as having underperformed while in office.
Speaking exclusively with PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday, Mr Fayose said contrary to Mr Babalola’s assertion, all past governors of the state did their best and contributed their parts to Ekiti’s development.
The former governor, however, said the ABUAD founder remained a leader he respects, and whom he would never want to join issues with on any matter.
Mr Fayose said this while reacting to Mr Babalola’s comments on Monday wherein he said all governors that managed the affairs of the state before the incumbent, Biodun Oyebanji, failed to develop it.
Speaking at the commissioning of the multi system hospital annex in Odo-Ado, Igirigiri road, Ado Ekiti, PREMIUM TIMES reports that Mr Babalola singled out Mr Oyebanji for doing a yeoman’s job in office so far, while saying that the former governors abandoned the vision of those who laboured for the creation of the state.
But Mr Fayose expressed the belief that Mr Babalola must have been misquoted, adding that the same Mr Babalola had, in 2018, described him as a patriot not only to Ekiti State and the Yoruba race, but also to Nigeria.
“He is our leader, we owe everything to him, we cannot join issues with him, we will continue to respect him. In this case, he must have been misquoted,” Mr Fayose told PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Fayose explained that everyone who has governed the state in the past tried, as no one could finish the job in his lifetime.
He stressed that Mr Babalola himself is trying at everything he is doing, but that he would not finish every good thing he intends to achieve.
“I want to believe he must have been misquoted, Governor Adebayo did his best. Governor Fayemi did his best. I did my best.
“In fact, what Baba said about me in 2018 does not correlate with what you are saying he said about me yesterday,” Mr Fayose added.
A 2018 newspaper report quoted Mr Babalola to have described Mr Fayose as “a magician, miracle maker, architect, planner, visioner and executioner, who has changed the face of judiciary in Ekiti.”
The legal luminary showered the encomium on Mr Fayose at the commissioning of the new ultra modern Ekiti State High Court complex. (Premium Times)
