No comment on my burnt car —Fayose

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has declined comments on his burnt car, saying he would not comment on the incident.

Governor Fayose, who addressed newsmen in Ado Ekiti after the distribution of funds to communities in the state for development projects, deflected the question as soon as it was asked.

“I don’t want to comment on that,” Fayose said when asked during the cheque distribution, which was done through the Ekiti State Community Development Agency (EKCIDA) in partnership with the World Bank.

His Mercedes Benz Jeep, G Wagon, got burnt at Apapa-Osodi  Expressway in Lagos State, on Wednesday, although he was not travelling in the vehicle.

At the event, where a total of N94.08 million were distributed to the communities from 11 of the 16 local government areas of the state, Fayose told the community leaders and the people that he would miss them when he had completed his tenure as the governor of the state next year.

He said he was a governor of the people at the grassroots, noting he would miss them that he would miss them because gave him immense support.

Fayose said: “I will miss Ekiti people so dearly, because I have been used to them. I love finding myself in their midst and this is what I will miss sorely.

“Do you know that I have not entered my office in the governor’s office in the last one year. I have always been with the people on the streets to fraternize with them and that is the essence of leadership.

“No governor must rate himself higher than the people that elected him. Here in Ekiti, the people live mostly in the rural areas and they are not Lagos people but rural. So we must interact with them and come to their level. That is why you must support continuity project. That is why you must vote for Professor Olusola.”

He however said when his deputy, Professor Olusola had taken over government and is doing well, his feeling would be assuaged, pointing out that the people will benefit more when they have a governor they can easily access and control.

Speaking on the money distributed to the communities, he said their projects, which would be done in phases, we’re those the communities could not  undertake on their own.

He said “our aim is to ensure that all the 133 communities benefit from this programme. All they need to do is to pay the 10 per cent counterpart funding and they can access the fund for community development.”

He appealed to the committees set up by each community to use the money judiciously in their overall interest.

The Chairman , Council of traditional rulers in Ekiti and Oloye of Oye Ekiti, Oba Oluwole Ademolaju and the Olojudo of Ido Ile, Oba Obaremi Adeleye, commended the governor for his grassroots and participatory approach to governance.

Oba Ademolaju said: “This is not about a king playing politics, butmabout laying the facts bare. Governor Fayose is accessible. He is a man of the people and that is why we must support him to be able to give a good successor that Ekiti can be proud of.

“How many governors in Nigeria can choose their deputies as successors even when they always see each other as enemies? Governor Fayose choosing his deputy to succeed him is commendable and he must be

backed by people because it shows that the team we are having is good”.

The monarchs told the benefiting communities to spend the funds on projects that would be of tremendous benefits to the people.