Thousands of Nigerians from all walks of life, on Thursday, trooped to the 60,000 capacity Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, Ado-Ekiti, to witness the inauguration of Ayodele Peter Fayose and Dr Kolapo Olubunmi Olushola as governor and deputy governor respectively by the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola.
The stadium was filled to capacity with dignitaries, especially from PDP-controlled states in attendance. It was Fayose’s second oath taking as the state governor having governed the state between 2003 and October 16, 2006 when he was impeached in controversial circumstances.
The new governor attended the swearing-in wearing a simple white Danshiki (a native attire) with a cap to match and was accompanied by his wife, Feyisetan and his four sons to the stadium at exactly 12:39 pm amid cheering from residents. He arrived in an old Mercedes Benz 200, 1968 model, with Number Plate W110.
His deputy, Olushola, a university don, came alongside his wife and children as well.
In his inaugural speech, Fayose promised that his administration would recover lost grounds, repair the damage of the past government and promote concord and unity in place of bitterness, enmity and pretence in the state.
Describing his second coming as Ekiti governor as an act of God’s grace and mercy, Fayose said he got an unusual second opportunity from God to do things better. While condemning the out gone All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by Dr. Kayode Fayemi for allegedly emptying the treasury of the state dry, he said Ekiti State has been committed financially up and until year 2020.
He said: “My heart bleeds today (yesterday) as I report to you, that our state had been plunged into a heavy debt dungeon of over N57.45 billion by our own brothers and sisters. There were wasteful and unproductive expenditure of huge sums of money. My intention is not to join issues with the immediate past administration which was substantially responsible for this debt burden.”
The Ekiti Governor said the Fayemi administration distanced itself from the people and in turn, accused him of using stomach infrastructure to woo electorate at the poll.
Speaking further, Fayose expressed his reservation over the creation of additional 19 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) by the immediate past government, saying the case is in court but he would allocate the state resources to the initial 16 constitutionally recognized local governments until the court’s pronouncement.
“Our party considers the hurried creation of 19 LCDCs, after the former governor lost the June 21 election, as gratuitous afterthought of a bad loser. It smacks of political subterfuge masterminded in utmost bad faith.
“But at the moment, the matter is subjudice and as law-abiding citizens, our government will not do anything that will render the decision of the courts nugatory.
“However, pending the pronouncements of the courts, the new administration shall be guided by the provision of Section 3 and Part1, First Schedule of the 1999 Constitution on the list of local governments in Nigeria in the allocation of resources to that tier of government.”
Fayose, who condemned most of the policies and decisions of Fayemi in the twilight of his administration which included the elevation of eight civil servants to the position of permanent secretaries, directed the Head of Service, Olubunmi Famosaya to revert all the promotions made by Fayemi after the June 21 election to their former status.
“Consequently, my government shall review all public service personnel issues including appointments, promotions, and discipline which were hurriedly effected after the governorship elections.”
The new governor promised to introduce free education from primary to secondary school, alleging that education had receded abysmally during the regime of Fayemi.
He equally promised to introduce free health programme in public hospitals for children from ages 1-5, pregnant women and the physically challenged.
In his address, the PDP National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, who expressed gratitude to the people of Ekiti State for voting overwhelmingly for Fayose and the party, urged the residents of the state to support and pray for the new governor.
“Ayo, God loves you and the people of Ekiti love you too. It’s a tough job and you must discharge your duty with fairness, love of God and with the interest of the people of Ekiti at heart. God will help you,” the PDP chairman said.
While welcoming six members of the state House of Assembly who defected from the APC to the PDP, Mu’azu said the PDP will still gather more harvest from the APC in the coming days, adding that the new entrants have seen the light and would be treated fairly in the party.
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