Former Governor of Ekiti State and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ayodele Fayose, has shed more light on the differences between him and another ex-governor of the state, Segun Oni.
Recall that Oni lost in the primary election of the party in Ekiti which was won by the anointed aspirant of Fayose, Bisi Kolawole.
The development saw Oni dump PDP for the All Progressives Grand Alliance to pursue his governorship ambition.
Fayose in a recent interview with Punch, when asked why he has not forgiven Oni for working with Fayemi to defeat his candidate in the 2018 governorship election in the state noted that their differences did not start then, even though he has forgiven the former governor.
According to Fayose, Oni made attempt to try him for murder in 2007 with help from the then Attorney General of the state.
Fayose when asked if he had forgiven Oni said, “No, Segun Oni never worked with Fayemi to defeat my candidate. The Federal Government muzzled us and had us defeated. Segun Oni did not have any power at the time. Fayemi was supported by the federal might and that was part of the game at the time. I am not a complainant, if things happen, I move on. The issue of forgiving Segun Oni or not, even if you forget, history will still state the fact. You may want to talk about what happened in 2007 when Segun Oni came, how I was treated, how his Attorney General manipulated the Judiciary and prison authority to bring me to Ekiti to try me for murder. When I went into exile, I left all our (my family) property in the Government House, our vehicles, our clothes, we did not pick anything from there. They were there throughout his tenure, all my followers were not paid, apart from that, the local government chairmen, everybody was put in jail throughout his tenure. Those were the issues at the time.
“The party had called the two of us together, but the story must still be told. For me, I have a conscience, if I do not forgive him, how do I get to God? God has been kind to me, being Ekiti State governor before and after him. It is enough for me, so I will never begrudge him. Not even Fayemi. I and Fayemi are not enemies and we are not supposed to be. Even I and Oni are not enemies. Life goes on.”
Fayose while speaking on things he did for Oni when he was in APC said, “For me, and I want Segun Oni to deny this: When I was governor, he was in the APC; every last Sunday, myself and my Chief of Staff, who was his friend, took money to go and take care of Segun Oni. We are talking about what transpired not because we want to celebrate such. Secondly, the portraits of people who had been governors are always on the wall, but because there was a judgment that said Engineer Segun Oni was never a governor, his portrait was dropped. My first assignment when I returned as governor in 2014, despite all he did to me, was to hang the portrait back.
“That shows that I have nothing against him. I visited him so many times when I was in the office. There was a time he visited me. I was not happy about the car he brought, I went to buy another car for him, but rather than accept the car because he was contesting, he said I should go and pay the salaries of workers and that I should not bring a Greek gift to him. I was a PDP governor; he was an aspirant in the APC then.”
