Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State Sunday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to listen to the counsel of the National Peace Committee led by former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, which has advised him to tread cautiously.
According to a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose pointed that the Abubakar-led Committee has tactically told Buhari to tread cautiously and be mindful of the fact that he is not heading a military government.
The governor, who said he was not unaware of plot to destabilise his government because of his strong and truthful stands on national issues, vowed not to be cowed by threat from any quarter.
His words: “Opposition is one of the roots on which democracy stands and any president or governor that does not want opposition will eventually become a dictator. I want to state without fear or favour that I will continue to speak the truth no matter whose ox is gored.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us and no one can intimidate me or the good people of Ekiti State who freely and overwhelmingly gave me their mandate. Democracy as a form of government thrives on our ability to ask questions and get answers from leaders.”
Fayose added that “the Peace Committee has reminded Buhari that he is not heading a military government and with the calibre of Nigerians in the group, their wise counsel should not be ignored.
“These are Nigerians who don’t need personal favours from the President and he should get the message very clearly that he is being told not to act as a dictator,” he added.
Noting that Nigerians are not interested in any honeymoon, but their well-being, Fayose said: “Rather than concentrate and make a difference within his 100 days in office, the President’s greatest achievement so far is harassment of PDP leaders, appointment of his in-law and kinsmen into sensitive positions, selective fight against corruption and arrest and detention of INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) officials who worked in states won by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”
