By Temidayo Akinsuyi
Facts have emerged on how the immediate past governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi, and ex-Minister of State for Works, Senator Dayo Adeyeye lost out in the recently constituted cabinet of President Bola Tinubu.
Before the announcement of the ministerial list, many supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had thought one of the men would be rewarded with a ministerial position given the role they played in the emergence of President Tinubu.
Fayemi stepped down for Tinubu during the presidential primary and directed the Ekiti state delegates to vote for him.
While announcing his decision to back Tinubu, Fayemi had said “It is only in unity and cohesion that we can meet our destiny. I am stepping down for Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Give me the honour to step down for my leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He is a democrat that I worked with. I am not doing this for any prize,”.
On his part, Adeyeye served as the National Chairman, SouthWest Agenda for Tinubu 2023 (SWAGA’23), a group of former lawmakers that campaigned vigorously for Tinubu across the country.
However, to the surprise of the duo, Dele Alake, a close ally of President Tinubu was given the slot of Ekiti state. He is currently serving as the Minister Of Solid Minerals Development.
While Adeyeye has not been compensated with any position, credible sources informed QUEST TIMES that Fayemi has been barred from coming close to Aso Villa by the president’s inner circle.
Speaking with our correspondent, a presidency source said after the president’s victory, those loyal to him reminded him of the utterances and actions of Adeyeye and Fayemi where they denigrated Tinubu and this was used against them.
“ Fayemi had thought that as a former chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum who also stepped down for President Tinubu during the primaries, he would be rewarded with a ministerial position like Wike, Umahi, Matawalle, Oyetola and co”.
“ On the part of Adeyeye, the SWAGA members even boasted that there is no way the ministerial list will be out and his name will not be included given the role he played campaigning for Tinubu throughout the country, most times using his personal funds”.
“However after the victory, many of Tinubu’s men reminded him of the negative comments that Adeyeye had made about him in the past, describing as a personification of corruption. Some of these remarks were used against Tinubu by his opponents during the last election.
In a statement he issued in March 2015, Adeyeye who was then a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had condemned a one million- march held by the APC in Lagos. He said the march was in support of corruption and the massive looting of Lagos State by Tinubu.
He also said that the APC should defend the allegations of converting almost all the landed properties in Lagos to Tinubu’s personal use and monumental looting of the state by the former governor, rather than embarking on a show of support for corruption in the name of one-million-man march.
“The APC and its leaders need to seek forgiveness from God for stealing Lagos State blind, instead of marching on the heads of the same Lagosians that they shortchanged for 16 years” Adeyeye had said.
Continuing, he said “One is not surprised that they took to the streets in Lagos to show solidarity to Tinubu, who is being accused of massive looting of Lagos State.
“After all, the APC said officially that ‘even if Tinubu and the party presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari are shown in a video robbing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerians must vote for the party.’
“In other words, they are saying that even if Tinubu acquires the Alausa Secretariat the way he acquired the secretariat of Eti-Osa Local Government and several other properties belonging to the people of Lagos State, Lagosians can go to hell! This is shameful and Nigerians should note that handing over the country to Tinubu and his cabal will be tantamount to auctioning the country at the World Trade Centre”.
Our source said the cabal surrounding Tinubu had all these in mind but because they needed to win, they allowed Adeyeye to campaign for Tinubu before dealing him a huge blow.
“They can compensate him with a position later, maybe ambassadorial or head of an agency. But what Adeyeye wanted was a Ministerial position and they denied him that.
“On the part of Fayemi, he forgot the role Tinubu played in his emergence as Ekiti state governor and the cost of the litigation at the Appeal Court. He aligned himself with the cabals of the immediate past administration and saw himself as a ‘Buhari boy’ after getting a ministerial position and they supported his reelection as Ekiti governor in 2018. Many times, his aides were rude to Tinubu and he failed to caution them”.
“Knowing that the APC will likely zone the presidency to the South, he believed that his closeness to President Buhari and his position as Governors Forum chairman will give him an edge. He was very hostile to SWAGA members in Ekiti who were mobilising for Tinubu then.
“One of his aides even issued a statement that the formation of SWAGA is a misnomer and he (Fayemi) endorsed it”.
“Just because he saw the handwriting on the wall that Tinubu will win and stepped down for him during the primaries, he thought he will be given a ministerial position. He really lobbied for it and he can’t deny it but eventually, the cabal taught him a bitter lesson”.