WHY EKITI SUPPORTS BUHARI

Their decision didn’t come out of the blue, they had seen the performances of the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government. Most painful was the brick wall created by the PDP-led administration in the state against federal projects.

Ekitis are intelligent. When they see a dead horse, they know one. A critical look and assessment of various infrastructure projects completed and ongoing across the nation, which were embarked upon by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government are worthy of having a fair share of. The new railway system with sophisticated trains is what Ekiti sons and daughters both home and abroad are currently clamouring for.

They are cocksure that the only government that delivers such great project which used to be a tall dream is All Progressives Congress-led government. What’s in vogue now in the nation, particularly in the Southwest, is voting for infrastructure facilities that would take the region back to the path traversed by their political pathfinders, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his allies.

Judging by the massive infrastructure projects the APC-led Federal Government has done in the last three and a half years, the nation has returned to the years of first republic when development was the focus of the regional and federal governments.

According to political pundits, the people of Ekiti wouldn’t be fooled the second time so soon as they are still regretting the unnecessary self-inflicting punishment the Governor Ayodele Fayose-led administration brought upon them by shunning federal projects which the state is entitled to for personal political aggrandizement.

Most importantly, the performance of Governor Kayode Fayemi within the last 100 days in office has given the people the required assurance that they had voted right.

Governor Fayemi’s decisive moves in repositioning the education system of the state from primary to tertiary were enough evidences that the new administration is people-oriented. Most parents are still basking in the euphoria of cancellation of levies imposed on primary and secondary school pupils by the Governor Ayodele Fayose-led administration.

A lot of pupils whose parents couldn’t afford the levies had been thrown out of school and children within school ages couldn’t come for registration.But at the cancellation of the levies, all the indigent pupils are back in the classroom while parents happily took their children of school age for registration.

Fact-finding committees were set up to look into challenges of the institutions and recommendations were made and submitted to the governor. Without delay,  he has acted on the recommendations, reconstituting the governing councils of the institutions to put them on strong and formidable footings.

The governor has set civil servants and pensioners free from economic quagmire they were plunged into by the immediate past PDP-led government in the state. Recently, Governor Fayemi approved the monthly release of about N100 million to offset the accumulated gratuities of retired workers in the state. This is a hundred per cent increase in monthly gratuity payment from N10 million to N20 million earlier approved by the governor in January.

According to a statement by the Spokesman to the governor, Yinka Oyebode, “taking into consideration the current plight of many retired workers, who could not access their gratuity several years after their retirement owing to the paltry amount for gratuity payment, Governor Fayemi has directed the Ministry of Finance to further increase the monthly gratuity payment to N100 million per month. This was the amount paid per month during his first term.”

Political observers expressed fear for the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and other PDP candidates in the state that the party would experience unprecedented monumental loss in the general elections owing to the ability of Dr. Fayemi to solve problems of the people within a short time in office.

Besides, it has become clear to the people that the excuse of the immediate past PDP-led administration for inability to pay workers and retirees was a ruse. Political pundits, however, noted that what affected PDP in the state governorship election last July has not been resolved. They emphasised that over 80 per cent of staunch members of PDP left the party in annoyance over Fayose’s unquenchable desire to dictate who his successor became.

The election was a contest between Fayose and the rest of politicians in the state. This, according to pundits, would work in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari and other APC candidates in the state, most especially with the ongoing bickering among the remnants of PDP.

They said the ongoing supremacy strife between Fayose and Senator Abiodun Olujimi has further balkanised PDP and the people of the state wouldn’t want to waste their votes when it’s glaring that the house of PDP is divided against itself.

Looking into the contributions of the wife of the state governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, political observers stated that women folks in the state are faring greatly better with various laudable programmes of the state’s First Lady.

They observed that Erelu Fayemi is a tested and trusted personality among the women, and with the great participation of women in voting exercise, the women power would give President Buhari and APC candidates in the state comfortable lead at the polls. However, pundits concluded that APC would leverage on the current unity and cooperation among its members to give all the candidates contesting on the platform landslide victory in the general elections.

Bolu-Olu Esho is a journalist and socio-political analyst