Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of not sending him any message to congratulate him on his 57th birthday.
Fayose said he deserved to be sent a congratulatory message from the Presidency as “one of the governors in Nigeria and a leading opposition figure in the country.”
On the raging controversy on who emerges the next People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the December 9 National Convention, Fayose said all chairmanship aspirants from all the geopolitical zones in the South are eligible and not only aspirants from the Southwest.
Fayose has been accused by some PDP chieftains in Ekiti State of supporting Prince Uche Secondus from Rivers State for the post of National Chairman rather than a candidate from the Southwest to where the position had been zoned by the party.
The governor spoke on Wednesday with reporters at the Government House, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital as part of the occasions to mark his 57th birthday.
Fayose said “one of his greatest wishes on his 57th birthday was to have woken up this morning to receive congratulatory message from President Muhammadu Buhari or read such message in the media.”
He said: “My wishes on my 57th birthday as Ayo Fayose are many but one of them which will interest you is that I wish President Buhari’s congratulatory call would have woken me up today as one of the governors in the country, as a father of the nation and as a leading opposition figure in the country.
“(The President ought to congratulate me as) a fearless young man who believes that things should be done rightly to show himself (Buhari) as a father of all, preaching that we must extend love to everybody not only those in his political party.
“The President would have made a difference if he had extended such gesture to others beyond his political party. Such a congratulatory message should have been conveyed through his Minister of Information.
“I would have loved to either wake up receiving a congratulatory call from him or read it in the papers. But since it is not coming, it is not a big deal to me and I take no offence on it.
“I am not Buhari’s enemy; opposition is the strength of democracy, it ensures that the electorates get value for their votes. Those who criticize your government are not your enemies, they are catalysts to your growth as a government.
“I remain a factor no one can ignore in this country. Apart from the fact that I am a leading opposition (figure), Nigerians respect my voice; they believe that I don’t compromise the truth no matter whose ox is gored.”
On the confusion over who becomes the next PDP National Chairman, Fayose said: “Nobody can say some zone would hijack it because there is no election yet. You don’t know where the election would go. 24 hours is a long time in election.
“What is important is that a credible candidate emerges as PDP chairman and the fact that we must as members, conclude this convention as one party.
“You also remember that all our candidates have signed and agreed to remain one regardless of the outcome of the convention. That shows unity among us, the chairmanship is zoned to the south.”
Responding to a question that his presidential ambition may rob the Southwest of the party’s national chairmanship slot, Fayose said: “How can only one man’s ambition rob others their own chance?
“That is just cheap blackmail. You see when I wanted to be governor; there was nothing that could stop me because I was determined.
“The aspirants for PDP chairmanship who have come from the South-West were determined, if not, they wouldn’t have come out. Let us say that expressly that we don’t know tomorrow, 24 hours is a long time in politics.”
“The aspirants for PDP chairmanship who have come from the South-West were determined, if not, they wouldn’t have come out. Let us say that expressly that we don’t know tomorrow, 24 hours is a long time in politics.”
TN
