A dinner organised on Friday night by the outgoing Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose to round-off his tenure in office was shunned by the expected crowd of party faithful and political appointees.
The dinner which ought to have begun at 7:00pm did not record up to 20 of the expected guests till about 12 midnight
Only journalists, armed security men, protocol officers and band boys of a musical group contracted to perform at the ceremony were present, as at 11pm.
Those conspicuously absent at the valedictory dinner were members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, commissioners and permanent secretaries.
Food and drinks meant for the entertainment of guests were wasted.
A Government House source told NAN that many of those invited were unhappy with the departing governor for various reasons.
The source, who pleaded anonymity disclosed that aside from the governor who paid himself and his deputy lump sums as severance package, including vehicles, none of the appointees was paid anything.
“Besides, all the 16 local government chairmen are battling to save their jobs in the court, as information was rife on Friday that the incoming governor had concluded arrangement to dissolve the councils anytime soon after his swearing-in on Tuesday.
“The comment of the governor earlier in the day was shocking to most political appointees when he told them that whatever that any one of them may likely encounter in the hands of the new governor, should be taken calmly as such was a prize of leadership,” the source said.
Commenting on the development, one of the personal domestic staff of the outgoing governor, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was not in any way disappointed by the people’s attitude, as it is common with human beings.
He recalled that when the governor was still in power, thousands of people would always answer his call at the slightest notice, such that the venue of any event organised by him was always overcrowded.
