Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has shared his thoughts on former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose’s past mistakes while celebrating his achievements in the political landscape.
Mr Obasanjo spoke at Mr Fayose’s 65th birthday celebration on Saturday.
“You are not the best of my political children, you are not,” Mr Obasanjo said to Mr Fayose. “But you have made achievements that must not be ignored.”
For nearly two decades, the two men nursed animosity towards each other. The hostility between them harked back to 2006 when Mr Fayose and his then deputy governor, Abiodun Olujimi, were removed from office by the state House of Assembly. Mr Fayose believed then-President Obasanjo to be the architect of the plot for his removal from office.
In October 2006, less than a month after Mr Fayose was removed from office, Mr Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in the state, following the turmoil that resulted from the impeachment saga.
The state of emergency saw the state House of Assembly suspended, as President Obasanjo appointed Tunji Olurin as the sole administrator of the state. Mr Olurin governed the state till April 2007.
However, the Supreme Court would years later, in April 2015, declare Mr Fayose’s removal by the state House of Assembly as illegal. As of that time, his tenure in office had long expired, so he never returned to office, until he staged a comeback in 2014 when he won election for a second term.
While the animosity between them lingered, Mr Fayose never missed an opportunity to attack Mr Obasanjo. He once asked for a refund of the N10m he donated to the presidential library built by Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State, in 2005 with interest. He said Mr Obasanjo, as president, compelled the governors who were members of the Peoples Democratic Party to donate N10 million each to his project.
Birthday party
At the birthday celebration, the ex-president recounted how he knew the host, supported his governorship bid, and their relationship turned sour.
“I knew you (Mr Fayose) because of the initiative that you took to start giving water in Ekiti, and that was what set you apart,” Mr Obasanjo said.
“I didn’t know you before then. I was told to support SK Babalola, who had a beautiful track record in the NUT for many years,” Mr Obasanjo said. “But when you came up, then I dropped him — he wasn’t even in our (political) party.”
The former president said, as governor, Mr Fayose consulted with him on how to help the poultry farmers, and he advised him to subsidise the chick feeds for them.
Apology, forgiveness
Mr Obasanjo said the former governor had come to him at least twice to apologise for his wrongdoings and he forgave him, but that “it (insults) didn’t stop.”
He said at one time, Mr Fayose was accompanied by his wife to seek forgiveness at Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s residence, a former governor of Osun State.
Additionally, he said, “even when you were abusing me, I still took an interest in your welfare.”
According to him, when Mr Fayose approached him to be present at his birthday celebration through Osita Chidoka, whom he described as a political son, he could not refuse it.
“When Osita came to me and said, ‘Ayo,’ I asked, ‘Ayo who?’ He said Ayo Fayose. I told him to tell him, the message has been delivered.”
He noted that Mr Fayose called him afterwards, and he told him that he could come anytime to see him. Mr Obasanjo said, “Everybody should learn a lesson from that.”
The former president urged Mr Fayose to call those he might have wronged and seek forgiveness, and also forgive those who may have offended him.
