EKITI State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, on Sunday in Lagos raised the alarm that opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the coming governorship poll, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, have concluded plans to implicate him and some ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state in fresh murder case by hiring a man nicknamed ‘Agbara’ to find people to kill for that purpose.
The governor raised the alarm while speaking to newsmen, disclosing that the plan to implicate him and other PDP chieftain was part of the resolutions of a meeting that held at the Fayemi’s Isan hometown, where he said ‘Agbara’ was financed and empowered to carry out the dastardly act.
According to Fayose, ‘Agbara,’ whose real name he said would be revealed soon after thorough investigation, had been mandated to look for about two Ekiti people, kill them and have their bodies dumped around the Fajuyi Park, the Government House or around any of PDP chieftain’s house in the state.
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The governor said the fresh plot was being embarked upon following their failure to link him up in the violence that occurred at APC secretariat last Friday that resulted in shooting of former House of Representatives member, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele and five others.
Governor Fayose, while condemning the violence and sympathising with the former lawmaker and other victims of the sad incident and wishing them quick recovery, announced that the ruling PDP had suspended its governorship campaign in the state for the next 72hours as a mark of respect for the victims, who he said were first and foremost Ekiti citizens before becoming members of political party.
“So I want to equally now tell you why I called you which is that there was a meeting at Governor Fayemi’s hometown, Isan last night where one man whose name we will give to the public very soon after our investigation, the man is otherwise known as ‘Agbara.’ He is being financed and empowered to look for any lunatic, anybody possibly in Ekiti and have them killed, one or two people, and have their bodies dumped around the Fajuyi Park and around the Government House or in front of any of the PDP leader’s house during this week and then link to us as masterminds because it has been impossible for them to link me with violence and to taint this record of our campaigns.
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“The man was mobilised in Isan yesterday night, early this morning and I felt it is good for the public to know. Again, the blood of Ekiti people, even just one, is not worth our pains, our victory at the campaign. So we openly dissociate ourselves as a party and myself as governor of Ekiti from any act of violence that can claim the lives of our citizens,” Governor Fayose said.
Fayose, who recalled that Ekiti had been peaceful and equally adjudged the most peaceful state in the country by the Nigeria Police, blamed the APC and their leaders for the renewed violence, even as he asserted that his party began its campaign few months back and still held its primary in a peaceful atmosphere unlike the opposition whose primary was characterised by violence and had to be rescheduled.
“I have been governor of Ekiti for upward of four years, I stand to be corrected in saying that there has been no political violence in my state, no intimidation of the opposition and the state has enjoyed absolute peace.
“Going forward, the police said Ekiti is the most peaceful state in Nigeria, we have low number of incidents compared to many states in Nigeria.
“In the last two or three weeks, violence has returned to the state, one because of the coming election and two because of the activities of APC in Ekiti. You will equally recall that their primary was seriously greeted by violence which caused the party to do it again. And you will equally recall that during the outing of former Governor Fayemi, nine people were attacked by violence and there were shooting, bloodletting that we had not seen for a long time. And the press must equally differentiate this from the propaganda of political parties and address the security of people of Ekiti at this time,” he said.
Fayose maintained that his government, his party and himself had nothing to do with violence contrary to claims by APC and its leadership in the state, affirming that the opposition would lose the coming election as they lost in 2014 in spite of plot to spend close to N7billion for the exercise.
“They are not campaigning anywhere, they want to rig, they cannot rig me out,” he vowed, declaring that both Fayemi and APC were no threat to the level of achievements and love he enjoyed with the Ekiti people.
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This was just as he charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that they jealously guide their integrity in the July 14 poll and not repeat the sad history of the Second Republic in the state, saying Ekiti people were poised to monitor their activities.
Speaking further, the Ekiti State governor, while describing Fayemi and his party as desperate, reason he said they miscalculated always, called on police high command and other security outfits in the country to “deal with this issue decisively because we don’t know who is next.”
He, however, pleaded with his counterpart in Ondo, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, to steer clear of causing violence in Ekiti due to his desire to support Fayemi’s governorship ambition, alleging that it was becoming clearer that “most of the plans against Ekiti are done in Ondo Government House.”
