Kamarudeen Ogundele, Ado Ekiti
The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has charged elder statesmen in the country to keep public officers on their toes by demanding good governance and accountability from them.
He noted that history and posterity would not be kind to them if they fold their arms and watch situations deteriorate to a dangerous level in the country.
He stated this in Ado-Ekiti when members of the Ekiti State Council of Elders led by their Chairman, Prof. Joseph Oluwasanmi, paid him a visit at the Government House.
A statement by Fayose’s Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, on Sunday quoted the governor as also charging the elders to criticise leaders whenever necessary.
He said, “We must make political office holders accountable for our commonwealth. The essence of giving people the opportunity to lead is to make life better for all. Evaluate the situation and guide where necessary but don’t say you have tried to get across to some people but that they are proving stubborn or inaccessible.
“They are representing the interest of the people who elected them and whoever feels too big to identify with the people must be taught the needed lessons.”
Fayose thanked the elders for appreciating his efforts at developing Ekiti.
“We are working for history and posterity. We will take a number of elders around our projects for you to appreciate them and hand them over to Ekiti people,” he added.
Reacting to some demands made by the council, the governor noted that the previous administration left the finances of the state in tatters.
“We can’t even borrow money without the approval of the Federal Government. Right now, we pay over N1.2bn monthly to service debts incurred by the Kayode Fayemi administration and we will pay till 2036. This same person has been a Minister of Solid Minerals for about three years now and has not found anything worthwhile to bring to the state in spite of the abundant solid minerals in Ijero, Oye and other parts of the state,” he added.
On the development road map prepared by the elders, Fayose noted that since it was the government that would implement anything like that, it would have been better to carry the government along in preparing such a document.
The governor frowned on a situation whereby the Federal Government would borrow money for its own use, but would make all the three tiers of government to repay same.
He said he had gone to court to challenge that and some other policies of the Federal Government.
Earlier in his speech, Oluwasanmi had commended the Fayose’s administration for its giant strides in education, infrastructure and other sectors.
He told the governor that the state would soon host a meeting of the Yoruba Council of Elders and invited the governor to be part of the meeting.
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