Honourable Femi Akinyemi, a former Speaker of the Old Ondo State House of Assembly was the Ekiti State Coordinator of the Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation. Two weeks ago, he convened a group called Goodluck/Sambo Alliance (GSA). In this interview with Charles Akinsete, he speaks on the reason the group was formed and the one year of the Dr Kayode Fayemi-led Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) government in the state.IT was reported in the media that you just set up a group called Goodluck Sambo Alliance (GSA), what is the idea behind it' Well, you must be aware of how committed we were to the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan, first as the candidate of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and later the president of the country, in an election adjudged as the freest and fairest in the history of elections in Nigeria. Having therefore laboured to secure victory for the president and his deputy, Architect Namadi Sambo, it will be unwise for us to simply go to sleep.But you can't be campaigning after election...We are not talking about campaigning for votes; that is far from the reason we decided to bring our people who worked in the 16 local councils and 177 wards in the state together. These people were the ones who laboured day and night to secure victory for the PDP in the presidential election here in Ekiti and there must be a meeting point where their feelings and that of the electorate will be collated for necessary actions.Also, the masses must be constantly educated on the programmes of the President Jonathan and Vice-President Sambo-led Federal Government. Besides, politics in Nigeria has become so dynamic such that it is no longer enough for politicians to campaign for elections and go to sleep after winning or losing the polls.Don't you think this can be misconstrued to mean that you are forming a parallel group in the state PDP'Thank you for that question. First and foremost, those of us in the GSA are people who were members of the Goodluck Support Group (GSG) and Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organisation in Ekiti State. No one could have belonged to those two organisations then, without first being a PDP member. So, we are all loyal members of the PDP and will remain so.Rather than constitute a parallel body to the PDP in the state, we are out to further promote the party because our members have already been mandated to begin to see themselves and act as ambassadors of the party, our president and his deputy in their respective council areas and wards. It is now their responsibilities to make sure that our people at the grass roots are adequately educated on the Federal Government programmes and plans, so as to avoid misinformation, which you know is the trademark of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).For instance, the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) rehabilitated the Ado-Iyin-Igede-Aramoko-Erio Road recently and before we knew what was happening, the ACN people were already claiming that their government did it.It is now one year since the PDP lost Ekiti State to the ACN, what is your assessment of the state before, and one year after'If I say anything now, some people are likely to say 'he is a PDP man, what do you expect him to say'' But you can go to the streets, especially in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, and talk to the ordinary people. Move round the state capital on an okada or a taxi and listen to what the people say about the ACN-led government in the state. Like our people would say; 'won ti gbe epo wo, won ti gbe omi wo, won ti mo eyi to wuwo ju.' (They have carried both water and palm oil and now know which is heavier). So it is not a matter of me just sitting here to assess the Ekiti government; it is what the people are saying now that really matters.So, it is clear to the people that the ACN-led government has nothing to offer, except creating problems for the people. Or is it the people, whose houses and shops were demolished without provision of any alternative settlement or compensation for them that won't be angry' Is it the over 5,000 sacked local council workers and their families, the sacked permanent secretaries, local council directors of administration and treasurers that will be happy with the ACN-led government' Is it the workers, who are now being heavily taxed to the tune of over 300 per cent, and are made to pay two months tax in arrears, such that most workers now have to bring money from their homes to be able to balance up the deductions, that will carry samba and tambourine and be singing praises of Fayemi' Or probably the health workers that have been on strike for over three months and those who are dying because of the strike will be rejoicing that Fayemi is doing wonders in Ekiti' Fayemi's one year of failed promises is glaring to Ekiti people, and that is a fact.But the governor listed several projects as his one year achievements...I saw the advert placed in some newspapers, where the governor listed five roads; Ijero-Ikoro-Okemesi, New Iyin-NTA-Ilawe bye-pass, Igede-Ilawe, Ayede-Gede-Omu and Ilawe-Erinjiyan, as the roads his government completed under one year. These roads were completed and were already in use more than six months before Fayemi became governor. Even projects that were yet to be completed were commissioned. That is the level to which the ACN-led government in Ekiti has taken deceit to. But one thing that gladdens our hearts is that Ekiti people cannot be deceived. They know what was on ground in the state before Fayemi got his judicial victory, and have now realised that they have been conned by the ACN-led government.Look at education, which Fayemi promised would be free from primary to secondary schools; one year after, is education now freer in Ekiti than it was under the PDP government' Are our schools better than it was left by the PDP government' Today, students of the 22 boarding schools in the state that were paying N10,500 as tuition fees per term now pay more than N20,000. Textbooks are now being paid for and buying of desks by students, which had been eradicated before Fayemi assumed office, has also returned, with new students being asked to pay over N7, 000 or bring desks from their homes.Also, scholarship scheme created by the PDP government in which over 2,000 students had benefitted has been abolished. Digital Education Programme under which 1,650 free laptops (connected to the internet) were provided for SSS1 students has been abolished, with the laptops withdrawn from the students. Also, School Feeding Programme, under which school pupils were fed with eggs and chocolate, has also been abolished. Again, not minding the difficulties being faced by Ekiti youths in securing admission into universities, Fayemi had merged the three state-owned universities into one. They are University of Ado Ekiti, University of Science and Technology, Ifaki and the University of Education, Ikere. However, as at today, EKSU, that they changed UNAD to, is yet to be approved by the National University Commission (NUC), meaning that Ekiti State does not have a legally recognised state university at the moment.One can go on and on, but most importantly, those who were deceived to believe that Fayemi was their messiah now know better, and for that, we thank God for the opportunity given the governor to expose his level of intellect and commitment to the development of the state.The local government election has been fixed for January, is your party going to participate in it'Of course, we are going to participate. We don't believe in the politics of election boycott and we are not going to boycott the poll in spite of the that we are in court, challenging the inclusion of five ACN members as members of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC).Besides, we know the penchant of Governor Fayemi not to respect the rule of law. So, even if we get justice in court, he is not likely to respect the court decision. Therefore, while pursuing the legal aspect, we shall equally be preparing ourselves for the election. All that we can ask Nigerians to help us do now is to appeal to Fayemi to allow Ekiti people to decide who will govern them at the grass roots level. Already, Ekiti people have been short-changed at the state level by being ruled by a governor that was imposed by Justice Ayo Salami and his trusted justices. Fayemi should, at least, allow the people's votes to count in the proposed council polls.
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