Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji Discusses State’s Progress and Future Plans in a parley with journalists.

Inline with his inclusivity mantra part of activities lined up for the celebration of his first year in office, the Ekiti State Governor Mr Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji took out time for a parley with journalists in the state.

Here is how how the parley went -JIROLTV was there.

PEOPLE IN TOWN ARE SAYING YOU HAVE DONE SO WELL, THE NEWS IS ALL OVER THE PLACE AND A SECTION OF THE PEOPLE ARE NOW SAYING THAT YOU HAVE BOUGHT OVER THE OPPOSITION, THATS WHY EKITI IS MORE OR LESS RUNNNING AS A ONE-PARTY STATE, THE OPPOSITION IS NO LONGER ALIVE. IS IT TRUE THAT YOU HAVE BOUGHT THE OPPOSITION TO SERVE YOU?

Thank you so much for this question, it is a good feedback. I believe that the best assessment of any government is by the people and if it is coming from the Journalists, that tells me that it is a position that one has to take seriously. As a government, we have a contract with the people of Ekiti state and we promised ourselves that we will work for them and work with them. We made certain promises to them and for the past few months, we have ensured that those promises are kept. Even if those promises come at a cost, it requires self-discipline, a lot of concentration, a lot of consultation and a lot of what I will call a stable and compassionate policy from the government. It also requires a lot of tactics and strategies and we have tried as much as possible to ensure that we are truthful to Ekiti people. We believe that trust is very key to governance. So, the first mark I set for myself is that I need to earn the trust of Ekiti People because if you are going to take them on a journey of four years, they must trust me to the point that they will follow me to that expected end and we have tried to do that. So, if this is the feedback, well, I give God all the glory but I also know that it is too early in the day for us to rest on our oars. So, the reward for hard work is more work.

 

With respect to buying the opposition, it is not correct. What we have done is to ensure that we are running an inclusive government and we are communicating with everybody including the opposition. Election stopped the day I was sworn in as governor of Ekiti State. I dont see myself as governor of APC, I am the Governor of everybody in Ekiti State and I relate with all of them as Ekiti indigenes. So, politics has stopped, we are in the realm of governance and governance tells me that I have to be responsible to both my party members and people who didnt even vote for me. There are a lot of Ekiti People who dont even belong to any political party, I am also responsible to them. So, before I assumed office, I visited every of our leaders in the state across political divides because I believe strongly that I need all of them, I need to learn from them, I also need to take feedback from them and we had useful discussions with leaders of my party, those that are non-political and those that belong to the opposition. And every time I go to them, I take note of whatever they tell me and when I have issues, because I have established that relationship, I can call them and ask for advice and all of them have been advising me. So, that may be responsible for the feedback you are getting in town, I have not bought anybody, all the support have been unconditional and none of them has asked me for any favour and that is the truth.

 

PEOPLE ARE OF THE OPINION THAT EKITI STATE HAS NOT REALLY UTILISED THE POTENTIALS OF IGBEMO RICE IN BOOSTING ITS REVENUE JUST AS ITS COUNTERPART IN OGUN STATE IS USING OFADA RICE. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT?*

That is a correct assertion and it is not also correct. Our strategy in the agricultural sector is to see agric as a business itself. We want to put in place strategies and tactics that will allow players in that sector to also create wealth and be prosperous. So, we are transiting from subsistence farming to agribusiness. And because we are shifting focus from what used to be, its going to take a lot of communication and a lot of consultation with all the sectors in the agric value share. It is not only in Igbemo rice we are going to do this, we will do this across the value chain of grains, tree crops, root crops and everything. The most important thing in agriculture is fairness, it has to do with the mechanics of the agric itself, the quality of seedlings, availability of good input and tractorisation, land development. So, you need to identify the challenges first, the challenges we have faced in agric is we have left the players in the agric sector to themselves. There is absence of extended service, government doesnt see agric as business, so the players in that sector dont believe but they dont think that they can create wealth. So, they are abandoning that sector. We are bringing young people back into the sector because the farming population is aged and these are people that are used to the old ways of doing things.

We may have lost them in fairness, in terms of bringing technology and science into agric itself. So, we had a programme from Governor Kayode Fayemi that we call Youth In Commercial Agriculture Development. We are now attracting youths into the agric space through a lot of strategies and government is handholding them. We are preparing the lands for them, we develop the land, we clear land for them, we subsidise tractors, we give them improved seedlings that will give much outputs by acre rage.

Because when we look at all the numbers, we have not done well with our output by acre rage across the south west and it is unacceptable to us. And it is not because this people are not doing well but because they dont have access to relevant farm implements, good seedlings, no advice from the Ministry, I have just given approval for the employment of Extension officers and there are security challenges. So, we are addressing everything across Agric value chain and when you do that also, you have to connect them to off takers because when you solve the production side of the agriculture, you also have to look at the marketing side to ensure that when they produce, there are off takers that will buy from them at a very good price. We have started with what we call The Ekiti Broilers Programme, if you go to Erifun now, the facilities there have been renovated. We are building Hostels for them, they are doing a lot of things there now, as I am speaking to you. It is a facility that has been abandoned for the past 30 years.

We have done a pilot Scheme, we got some of our graduates into broiler production there, we had an agreement with a farm that supply them Day old chicken, they breed them, after six weeks, they sold. They made profits, they formed themselves into cooperative society, they save part of the money to cooperative society. We give them some money too, we now discover that we can scale it up. So, after six weeks, the same company that supplied the DOCs came and bought the broilers from them. So, we solved the marketing problem, If farmers have access to market from the farm, they will sell at good prices and make good profits. So, you remove middle men because the challenge is that most of the profits goes to the middlemen, they just go the farm and buy from them at ridiculous prices.

So, it is attractive for them to go back again into the business and now that we have succeeded with this, we have scaled up to 40,000 because they did like 7,000.

How?

We moved to to Ikere, and partnered with the Benin Owena. We have taken over their facility in Ikere, we are going to renovate it, that place will do 40,000 broilers. Once that one is done, then we go to other sectors because we also need to know the Crops where we have comparative advantage in the state. Our study is going on in respect to that and once I get the report because that will tell us where to put more focus. We are doing a lot with Cassava in the state, and very soon now, we have three cassava processing factories in the state. The challenge is electricity and we are bringing electricity from Eruku to Iyemero, that is our special agric processing zone. Work is going on as I speak to you, once we connect that, there is already a company that has been set up for the past three years but could not work because of lack of electricity and security, so, we are tackling those challenges and very soon, you will have Ekiti Product being branded for export.

YOU APPEAR TO BE SHYING AWAY FROM TAKING POLITICAL DECISIONS. TWO EXAMPLES, DURING THE TIME YOU WANTED TO SELECT YOUR COMMISSIONERS, YOU GAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SOME PEOPLE TO DO IT EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE THE PEROGATORY TO DO IT. ALSO DURING THE JUST CONCLUDED LOCAL GOVERNMENT PRIMARY YOU SAID YOU DONT WANT ANYBODY TO COME TO YOU, YOU DONT WANT TO IMPOSE ANYBODY ON THE CITIZEN. WHAT IS THE REASON FOR THIS?

I am a product of a system, I ran on the platform of a political party and when I went to canvass for their votes during primaries, I made certain promises to them based on the feedbacks we got from party members. There were complaints then, that the party was not involved in a lot of things and I told them that I will return the party back to the Leaders. I made that promise to them and I dont think it will be right for me to assume the seat of governorship and renege on that promise. I believe in the supremacy of the party, I believe that the party knows everybody because we gave them certain parameters to follow in fairness. There are certain conditions I gave to the committee when I inaugurated that they must be competent, compassionate, they must be people that can run with the vision, understanding the pillars of the administration. So, they have certain benchmarks and the reason I did that was because I want Commissioners that are in constant touch with their localities. As a leader, it is good to think global, but it is better to act local because we are products of this environment. So, at the end of the day, they submitted their recommendations to me, they recommended three names because the Committee went round the State for 8 weeks collating CVs, interviewing them and dont forget that the committee was headed by a retired Permanent Secretary, Baba George Akosile and we had the likes of former deputy governor, Prof Modupe Adelabu on that committee. Members of that committee are experienced people and I dont believe that the Leader is necessarily the person that knows everything,

the leader is someone that can put together smarter team to guide him in taking a decision. So, I believe strongly in their ability and capacity to do that. It is not that I shy away from it, I just wanted to test another approach to doing things, I dont believe that being the Governor of the State confer monopoly of knowledge on me, I dont believe in it. But at the end of the day, it was my decision because out of the three names sent, I still have to pick one. I must confess, the day we did swearing in for them, you will realise that our people are taking ownership of it. So, all the Commissioners appointed know that they came from their local governments. They are representatives of their respective local governments, so their loyalty is going to be to the people. I dont want Commissioners that are loyal to me, I want Commissioners that are loyal to the people of Ekiti State because Government is about the people, it is not about an individual.

For the chairmanship primaries, as the Leader of the party, I dont think I should have a favourite candidate and the chairmanship position belongs to the local government because that is the closest level of government to the people. I dont want local government chairmen that will be loyal to me as Governor of Ekiti State, I have sat on this seat for close to one year and I have realized that if you are on that seat and you are not compassionate, you dont love the people, you can use that seat to destroy lives. So, I wanted Chairmen of Local government that will hold their allegiance to their people not to me.

 

 

If I sit down here and I just appoint Chairmen for local government and LCDAs, their loyalty will be to me, not to the people and that will not be good for our people. So, that is the reason I have decided to democratize the choice of political appointments. And so far, I think it resonate well with the party people because the leadership also consulted with traditional rulers, opinion molders in the state and local government before they came up with the names. I can assure you that I didnt get involved in any of them and I am okay with that. I am not here to build structure for myself, the structure must be built to serve the people of Ekiti State because the state is larger than the Governor.

 

 

 

THE PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW, IN THE LAST ONE YEAR, HOW HAS BEEN THE FINANCES OF EKITI ESPECIALLY THE IGR, THE MONTHLY ALLOCATION FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, AND AS WELL THE STATUS OF DEBT OF THE STATE. WHAT DID YOU MEET ON GROUND IN THE LAST ONE YEAR?

Well, as respect to what I met on ground, there is no state that will not be indebted but the question is what are the debts spent on? So, a state owing money is not an offence but what do you owe money for? There are a lot of capital projects going on in the state. We know that the state resources may not be enough. It is even better for you to do all these things taking loan than to wait, because of the rate of inflation. And has there been manna falling from heaven? Well, there has been an improvement in what comes to the state in fairness. There has been a little improvement in what comes to us but what we have done, we have not done anything too serious.

I see Ekiti State as a company, before I take any decision, I will ask myself that if this were to be my company, what will be the best decision for me to take? And you will realise that we have run an austerity government for the past one year and gradually, my aides are come to terms with my style of leadership. My style of leadership is servant leadership, the people first. Lets take care of them, we are here because of them. So, because of change in attitude to governance, we have reduced a lot of expenditure on recurrent. You know, we have stopped unnecessary workshop, frivolous seminars, travelings that will not add value to the state. I met with the rank and file of the civil service before I came on board and I begged them that when you receive all these circulars to workshops, ask yourselves that what value will this add to Ekiti State? And they found out themselves, they called themselves to order. As the Governor of this state, I have been here to close to a year, I have only travelled out once and it was free, UNDP sent me to Kigali. Every month, I receive six to seven invitations to travel out but I ask myself, what value will this bring to Ekiti? If its not something that will add value, I drop it because I know that this seat has an expiry date, when I leave, will I be able to go home and sleep well? I also know, some of you may not agree with me that I will stand before God to give account one day. I believe in that. So, because we have been able to change the focus of governance, we will do more with little and we will continue to do more with little.

We have not owed deductions, we have not owed salaries, yes, we take overdraft to pay salary atimes. We put 2.5 billion aside per month, to pay salaries because I dont want to owe workers’ wages. We are dealing with gratuities arrears, we have paid CONHESS to local government staff, we have provided resources for local government to function, we have done that. I have spent a year in office, I have not bought any official car, I am still using the one left by my Predecessor.

The first set of political appointees that I have worked for a year without official vehicles, but now that I have brought in additional members (my bosses), I need to make provision for vehicles for them. But as the governor, I have not bought a new vehicle and I dont intend to buy as long as the ones I have are functional. I took them to Abuja, they helped me refurbish them and they look nice and I am good to go and it doesnt make me a lesser Governor. I see service delivery as a definition of that seat. I was elected to serve the people, so it is not about my convenience or comfort. I still believe that Leaders should make sacrifices and because I am conservative, most of my colleagues now, they will check themselves before they bring any frivolous file on my table because they know that you have to put the people forward.

The question I ask myself is, the man selling boli outside, the Okada Riders, those in Erekesan Market, they are also partakers in the allocation that come to Ekiti. Because at the end of the day, it is Ekiti State and the money belong to everybody. So, government must play a policy that will also affect those people and I am responsible to them because those people put me to this job through their votes and I keep telling everybody that when they went out to vote for us, every vote carry the same value. The vote of the Governor, and the vote of the man riding Okada, same value. So, access to government opportunities should also be equal, those are the principles that drive me.

 

 

FILLERS ACROSS THE STATE CLEARLY INDICATED THAT YOU HAVE BROUGHT A NEW LIFE TO GOVERNANCE, PEOPLE SAVOURING THE DIVIDENDS OF DEMOCRACY ON A LARGE SCALE. WHAT SHOULD EKITI PEOPLE EXPECT FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS?

We campaigned on the mantra of continuity and shared prosperity. Continuity of the programmes and policies of my predecessor in office which we have articulately adhered to in respect to the completion of some of the projects that he couldnt complete while he was here and also you will recall that before he left office, we launched the Ekiti State 30-year development plan from 2020 to 2050 and our manifestoes are offshoot of the development plan.

The last budget was termed BUDGET OF STRONG BEGINNING and we named it so, so that we can put in place a very strong foundation for the prosperity of our people and now that the foundation has been laid, we have presented before the House of Assembly the budget of 2024 and the budget is to put the building blocks gradually for the foundation that has laid to dispense prosperity for our people. So, what Ekiti people should expect in the next three years is a faithful implementation of our six pillars in accordance with the Ekiti State development plan and in accordance with the 2024 budget. So, Ekiti people should expect new capital project, improvement in the living conditions of the people, those in formal sector should expect government support for the informal sector and same for private sector and they should look forward to the establishment of industries in the state. Also, we are going to put a lot of emphasis on clean environment to ensure that we clean our environment, we put emphasis on the art, culture and tourism and also, we attack unemployment and insecurity in the state.

 

 

DUMPING OF REFUSE ON THE STREETS OF ADO-EKITI HAS BECOME A MAJOR ISSUE PARTICULARLY AT THE MARKET AND OTHER PLACES.WHAT WILL YOUR ADMINISTRATION DO TO ENSURE THAT THIS TREND STOPS IN THE STATE? SECONDLY, WHAT WILL YOU DO AS THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE TO ENSURE THAT ALL THE STRUCTURES ON THE WATERWAYS ARE REMOVED?

Immediately we were sworn in, I told myself that we will reduce the impact of flood in Ekiti State because every year, people go through harrowing experiences because of flooding. So, immediately I assumed office, I called the government agency concerned to let me know those critical areas in Ado-Ekiti that are prone to flooding and as early as November, we started dredging, we couldnt get to everywhere before the rain sets in and as at that time, NIMET has not even released the projection for the year. I did not know that Ekiti will be flagged red but we just started dredging and clearing the canals as part of my responsibility to my people. If we have not taken that proactive step, it would have been worse than this. Like you said, there is a place we dredge along EKSU road very close to Ayemi Garage, we dredged it on a Monday and I went to inspect the road 8 days later. I went to check the canal dredged, and I marveled when I saw a quantum of refuse that water brought and the place was blocked. So, there is a connection between flooding and refuse disposal and illegal dumping of refuse everywhere.

For us to enforce this, we have a responsibility as a government. Government must also make available refuse disposal bins for our people. I cannot ask you not to dump refuse on the street or in front of your houses if I dont provide that, its the responsibility of state government and the local government. We have been interrogating this close to a year. Two or three days ago, I had a meeting here with government agencies and all their LCDAs in Ado LG. They have one week to come back to me on their resolution and we have agreed on what we are going to do. If there is one area that I am not happy with, it is the indiscriminate dumping of refuse in Ado, I dont like it at all. But I keep asking myself, if I dont like it, are there alternatives for these people? No. if we provide alternatives and they dont comply, we can now act, so government will do its own very soon. I told the Commissioners for Investment, Trade and industry as well as Commissioner for Environment to sit down with the market women for the cleaning of the markets. We will roll out a comprehensive action plan in respect to waste management and flood control very soon but I agree with you, it is an area of challenge for me and we will tackle it, that is why we are here. But in doing this too, you have to be compassionate, we dont want to inflict unnecessary pains on the people because the people are already stressed to a point.

 

 

HOW ARE YOU HANDLING ISSUES RELATING TO THE SUBVENTED INSTITUTIONS IN THE STATE IN TERMS OF WORKERS WELFARE, INFRASTRUCTURE, LEARNING AND OTHERS?

I am an alumnus of one of the subvented institutions and it behoves government to provide adequately for them too. We came on board in the heart of the arrears that are not being paid, we had arrears of subventions that have not been paid and I think we have reduced it to just one month now. We have not also failed in releasing their subventions every month. We have constituted their governing council, people that can actually bring new lease of life to those Institutions. But my position on this has been certain and constant, the money is called subvention, it should not replace the ability of the institutions themselves to generate independent funding. There is no way government will carry 100 percent the load of the University, government can only surbvent and I have the Universities that they should look into the research to get more money to supplement whatever Government is giving them. There are state universities in the south west that dont collect subvention from the government. Ekiti State University is the most subvented University in the south west, go and cross check. Kwara State University doesnt take money from the government, LASU take less than what EKSU is taking. Ekiti State Government subvent its Universities more than any Universities in the southwest, you can go and find out. And I do ask them, what are they doing? How have they been running the place? But it seems that we are used to Government subventions. So, it has made them relax, we will continue to subvent but the University when it comes to policy, they will claim autonomy but financially, they will come to Government.

 

 

And I have told them, we will continue to support them, there’s no problem about that but they have to look inward. Between the three Institutions in the state, we spend close to a Billion every month, that’s 12 billion a year and that will go a long way to do a lot of things for our people. And there’s no month we have renege on the payment of subventions to either the State Polytechnic Isan, School of Health Technology, Ijero, BOUESTI, Ikere or EKSU. They have to do more than what they are doing and that is my position and it has not changed but I must commend the governing councils of the three Institutions, since they came on board, they have done a lot to bring sanity back and to ensure that there’s accountability and transparency in the financial management of the situation.

 

 

*NO DOUBT, YOU ARE A SPORTS- LOVING GOVERNOR WHO IS KEEN ON DEVELOPING SPORTS IN THE STATE. WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT THE STATE OWNED FOOTBALL TEAM, EKITI UNITED. THEY LOSE PLAYERS TO OTHER TEAMS AND THAT AFFECT THEIR PERFORMANCES AND EFFORTS AT PLAYING AT THE TOP LEAGUE. SO, I WILL LIKE TO ASK, LOOKING AT SPORTING LAGOS, REMO STARS, THESE ARE PRIVATE TEAMS. IS THERE ANY POSSIBILITY IN THE FUTURE OF PRIVATISING EKITI UNITED SO THAT THE TEAM CAN DEVELOP? SECONDLY, HOW IS THE STATE DEALING WITH HAPPENED AT THE NATIONAL YOUTH FESTIVAL ESPECIALLY THE ERRING OFFICIALS EVEN THOUGH THE STATE TEAM DID WELL IN SPITE OF THE INITIAL SET BACK OCCASSINED BY THE POOR KITTING OF THE YOUNG ATHLETES?

Thank you so much, privatising Ekiti United should be the ultimate but for now we have to reposition the team in a way and manner that it will make it attractive to private investors. One major campaign promise I made to Ekiti in respect to Sports is to decouple it from the ministry and have a Commission and I can assure that that the House of Assembly has passed that bill and by Monday, I will be signing it to law but once that is done, we have a legal framework for sports management and because of that, I was waiting for the legal instrument to do this but it took a while before it came because we have to put the bill in place, send to the Assembly and go for public clearing, get sports lovers to come and make contribution. Now we have a document, so, once I sign it to law, we constitute the board of Ekiti State Sports Commission then they will now sit down and give us a road map for sports development in the state, and that will include what we will do with EKITI UNITED, EKITI QUEEN and everything. I have been to the Stadium twice or thrice, we must commend any athlete in Ekiti State for winning any medal because they have nothing to train with, nothing! This years budget, we have put in place the construction of indoor sports complex, we are going to do that, its in the budget and we will equip it and provide the tools for them to train but when you provide the tools for them to train too, they must also be resourced so that they can concentrate, so the two will go together but I will wait for the advice of the professionals because we all need to crowd fund it, get private sectors to play in this so that they can support whatever government is giving because sports itself is a business, a big business if properly structured and that is what we want to do. Apart from creating wealth, it creates jobs and grow the economy and I am sure that we will get to that before the end of the administration.

Well, on what I have termed the ASABAGATE, it was an embarrassment to all of us from Ekiti State, how peoples penchant for the gain could just put the whole state into disrepute. It was a painful thing for me because they are kids and that thing could have affected them psychologically, what you saw is just the march past. I have the pictures of where they kept them, the kind of food they gave them and yet, they were able to win medals. They could have done better than that but unfortunately, we sworn to an oath to uphold the constitution of the country. So, the civil service has its own rules and regulations, I dont want to, out of emotions or I want people to clap for me that I am an action Governor, violate rules and regulations. So, we are following it to the letter, what the law says in the civil service but I can assure you, that there will consequences. I know that a query has been issued in accordance, a panel has been set up, we are waiting, we are just following everything through but there will be consequences. I have apologized to the children, I have begged them to forgive, I have accepted the responsibility because I am the governor of the State, yes, I approved money for them but under my watch, some people decided to drop the ball. So, I take the blame but there will be consequences.

 

IN ALL OF YOUR PROGRAMMES AND AGENDA FOR THE STATE, SOMETHING IS PARAMOUNT TO ACHIEVE THEM AND THAT IS SECURITY. WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THEN LOCAL SECURITY OUTFIT, AMOTEKUN, HOW DO YOU INTEND TO MAKE THEM AS ACTIVE AN EFFECTIVE LIKE THEIR COUNTERPARTS IN ONDO AND OYO STATES. ALSO WHAT IS THE UPDATE ON THE GOVERNMENT;S IPP PROJECT, YOU SAID IT WOULD BE READY BY SEPTEMBER ENDING THIS IS OCTOBER?

Well, I share your concern with Amotekun, I too have the same concern but we need to do more with Amotekun. When I came on board, I tried to look at it because Amotekun was under me when I was the SSG. Since I became the Governor, I commissioned a team to look at Amotekun and I discovered that we need to change the tactics with them. We need to employ more people, we need to train them, we need to provide resources for them, but you know, we also need to provide clear direction for them. And when I was convinced that a new leadership is needed, I brought in the current Commander who just left the North-east, he just retired from the Army, he has been leading Boko haram fights in the northern states and I brought him on board. Since he came on board, he has changed the face of Amotekun in the state, currently, he is going round the state to even ascertain the status of the corps. He has not completed that, once that one is done, we are going to sit down with the local government but definitely we need to recruit more people, we need to provide working tools for them but I agree with you that the comparison with their counterpart in the southwest, there can be improvement and we will see to that but this government believes in the Amotekun philosophy and we also believe that if properly managed with the current leadership, our Amotekun will bite more. So, we are working in that line but I must commend the new Commandant, he has brought a lot of discipline and a lot direction into the corps and part of what we are doing is just to change the leadership now and I am just waiting for him to come with his reports because Amotekun is a joint concern for both the state and the local government. We have done something when I came on board, we have increased their salary like the other states, we have done that but in terms of providing tools for them, making them effectively, we need to look into that but we are going to do it this time around in conjunction with the traditional institutions at the local level. So, there are a lot of some structural issues with it but we will resolve that.

Concerning the IPP, I said so. The IPP is almost ready now, when I gave that assurance to our people, the Commissioner in charge told me that it will be ready and now, that date has lapsed. I told him at EXCOS meeting yesterday and I asked him about it and he gave me a new date but I am not going to make that public yet. I am learning from the last experience but what he told me is before the end of the year, we are almost done because there are also a lot of security and certification issues. They are 96% done, he said that its going to be ready very soon , they are almost done.

 

*YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAINTAIN A VERY CORDIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR PREDESCESSOR, FORMER GOVERNOR KAYODE FAYEMI CONTRARY TO THE USUAL PREDESCESSOR-SUCCESSOR RELATIONSHIP IN NIGERIAN POLITICAL SETTING. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE THAT AND WHAT IS THE SECRET?*

Actually, there is no secret. Remember, I worked with Governor Fayemi for seven years. In his first term in office, I was the Commissioner for Integration, I later headed OTSD, and later served as Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, so, I worked with him for four years. When he came back, in 2018, I was the SSG for three years. So, seven years working with him and God has used him to support me to be here. I see myself as the clone of both himself, Governor Niyi Adebayo and Governor Ayo Fayose. rrAnd since Oga (Fayemi) left, I am the one that is always disturbing him, because there are some doors I will ask him to go and open for me and he does that without any problem. I consult with him regularly, he has not foisted anything on me, he doesnt disturb me for anything, I am the one disturbing his peace. I will call him that when will he come back to Ekiti, he will tell him I should allow him to rest. There was a time he had to go to London to do something for me. He got there and he called me and I spoke with the person. Today I have called him to do some things for me and he said he will do it. There is no basis for friction. I am actually blessed by predecessors that dont disturb me, even those ones that belong to the opposition, I have found favour in their eyes, they give me advice unconditionally so, I stand on the shoulders of giants and I know that it is only the grace of God who has made this to happen.

My relationship with all of them has been extremely cordial and I intend to maintain that. Governor Fayemi remains the leader, remains my Boss, remains my mentor and because I worked with him for seven years, taking decisions, to a large extent, I can have a guess of what he would do on any matter. One day we were having a discussion, I was telling him I want to do this, I want to do that, I was mentioning name