I am Ayo Fayose. If you hit me, you hit trouble; if I hit you, you will be in trouble.” That was Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose bragging during a February 27 victory celebration by the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Liberation Stadium in Port Harcourt. His choice of words, “If you hit me, you hit trouble”, suggests that he is intolerant of criticism.
Interestingly, he sees nothing contradictory in criticising others, even when his criticisms are evidently politically motivated. His response to those who criticise him for his usually unreasonable criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration: “My criticisms are to help the people enjoy dividends of democracy.” Fayose’s reaction came during the March 1 inauguration of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital. Fayose added: “If nobody is talking because of fear, you will have a dictator in every leader.”
Perhaps this explains why Fayose is behaving like a dictator in Ekiti State. When in December last year the All Progressives Congress (APC) opposition in the state criticised him for wearing a pair of Jeans trousers and a T-shirt to the House of Assembly to present the Appropriation Bill, the House Committee Chairman on Information, Gboyega Aribisogan, reportedly wondered: “And what has what Governor Fayose wears got to do with governance?”
Also, when Fayose was criticised for reportedly grabbing the gavel and employing it to “pass” the budget he presented into law, which was an undemocratic absurdity, Aribisogan was quoted as saying: “Is it our fault that the APC does not have a member in the House of Assembly? … The reality that those in the APC must face is that if they are waiting for us to confront Governor Fayose on issues of governance, they will wait till eternity.”
Now, let’s go back to the JSC event, where Fayose said: “What gives birth to dictatorial governance is lack of consistent and constructive criticism of public officers.” It is unsurprising that Fayose continues to demonstrate “dictatorial governance” in Ekiti State, given the hero worship by men of straw. He needs to practise what he preaches by doing some self-criticism.
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