Indications have emerged that Governor Ayo Fayose is poised to elongate his tenure beyond the terminal date in 2018. The Governor who himself recently made this known publicly, has approved the disbursement of the sum of 4 billion naira to secure the extension of his tenure and perpetuate himself in office.
The governor, who claimed his tenure was cut short by seven months with his impeachment in 2006, has publicly announced his determination to seek legal redress in court.
Vigil360 reliably gathered that the Governor is currently reaching out to influential citizens of the state in Ado-Ekiti, Abuja and Lagos, while equally targeting a section of the media to give him the necessary support.
Most of his targets including the media are being wooed with cash, as several top law chambers in Lagos, Abuja, and Akure are jostling to handle the case. Already, the Governor has enlisted 13 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) on his legal team, as huge chunk of the cash has been earmarked to lobby judges and other influence agents in the judiciary.
The Governor is equally reaching out to traditional rulers, key labour leaders, market women, transport unions, street urchins and less politically aware residents of the state, with the intention of using chaos, intimidation and outright blackmail to bamboozle his way and achieve his aim of staying in office beyond his terminal date in 2018.
It will be recalled that Governor Ayodele Fayose was impeached on 15th October, 2006 by 24 out of 26 lawmakers of the Ekiti State House of Assembly on corruption charges. He was accused and found guilty of embezzling state funds, particularly the Ekiti State Poultry Project fund, which he diverted and laundered through foreign accounts domiciled at Knightsbridge International Banking Center of Barclays Bank in London, and Citi Bank in the United States.
His alleged complicity in the murder of PDP Chieftain, Ayo Daramola, whom Fayose considered a major threat to his re-election back then, also contributed to his removal.
However, the recent launch of the Oshoko Mass Movement (OMM) in Ikere-Ekiti, a pro-Fayose political movement, is part of the grand strategy to solicit the support of gullible young men and women of the state to rally support for the governor’s tenure elongation bid.
Insider sources at the Ekiti State Government House are concerned that Governor Fayose’s unquenchable taste for power may throw the entire state into a constitutional crisis, a situation which could lead to the declaration of another State of Emergency, the second in ten years.
