April 17, (THEWILL) – A founding father of Ekiti State and the governorship candidate of the Accord Party (AP) in the June 18, 2022 governorship election in the state, Basorun Reuben Famuyibo, speaks with AYO ESAN about his chances of winning the poll, his plans for Ekiti and what is expected of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, among other issues. Excerpts:
The Ekiti State governorship election is less than 75 days away. As the candidate of Accord Party, how are you preparing for the election?
At the initial stage, I thought that I would be contesting under the All Progressives Congress (APC), but you know what happened. I can tell you that my chances are very bright in the Accord Party, knowing full well that everybody hates the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The talk of the town is that people need a neutral person, someone who has not been in government before and the name is Reuben Famuyibo. They considered that other candidates from the APC, the PDP and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) have all tasted government and people will ask about what they did while in government. I have gone round the 177 wards in Ekiti State four times and now I am going round the 2,700 polling units which we have started. I don’t make noise. I go directly to the people that are going to vote. I don’t need to carry Okada riders to shout about. My name is Ekiti and Ekiti is my name. There is no household in Ekiti that doesn’t know Famuyibo. I have also touched lives. I was in Ido-Osi some time ago and somebody saw the campaign train and came inside the hall where we were having a town hall meeting. I asked them to give him a minute to talk. Many even thought he was a spy. The person said people should vote for me because I gave him a scholarship in 1995 in the old Ondo State. The man said he wouldn’t be where he was but for that symbolic gesture. He voluntarily donated a vehicle to us and said it should be branded immediately. Now they have brought the names of other beneficiaries and they have now formed a forum called ‘Famuyibo Beneficiaries Group,’ FBG.
Aren’t you threatened by the popularity of the dominant parties, especially the APC, PDP and lately SDP?
Ekiti people are very educated. They don’t vote for political parties, but follow names. During the Afenifere era, the decision of Baba Adesanya would hold water in Ekiti. Look at the era of Adekunle Ajasin and look at when they made Bamidele Olumilua governor. So it is not about political parties, but the people behind the parties. There is nobody again behind the APC, including the PDP, they have finished themselves. I have my people and God. They know Famuyibo as a simple person, as their own. So, I don’t need any party.
People ask me about Accord Party. I tell them that it is number one on the ballot paper and it is gaining ground. We are not stealing government money to hold an election. People are borrowing money and trying to sell Ekiti again. For your information, people are contributing money for me. I was even shocked when I heard some people have contributed N177,000 for me in a ward in Ikere Local Government Area. I am running for a government that is going to touch the lives of everybody, including civil servants. So, I don’t feel threatened because they are the ones that are scared of me now.
I don’t have money, but I have God and the people of Ekiti will show them that everything is not about money, come June 18. The people want change. After Niyi Adebayo left in 2003, there has been money politics in Ekiti State and the people are now saying they want change. Civil servants and teachers are clamouring for change. Go to the streets you will know everything. But, I learnt that they are planning to rig the election. If they rig, the people will attack them in order to defend their votes and mandates. I am preaching to our people and appealing to all security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to shun rigging because it will only set Ekiti on fire. We are aware that APC and its cohorts are planning to buy votes. They are not campaigning, but learning how to trigger violence. People have declared in clear terms that this election is going to be a revolution to salvage the little left behind in Ekiti State.
How would you describe Ekiti under an APC-led government in the last three and half years and what will you be doing differently when elected as governor?
I went on a political sabbatical and relying on what I was told, now I am at home. I have, indeed, seen that Ekiti is the poorest of all the states in the country. We have unemployed graduates everywhere. Don’t blame them when they ask for money from politicians. They don’t know what they are doing. Many are Okada riders. How can you have a government that you can’t point to a single industry and all of them are acquiring properties across the country? In Ekiti State, cottage industries cannot cost more than $100,000. They are leaving us in abject poverty and there is no single development. Teachers are not being paid their salaries, graduates are lamenting and pensioners are in pain.
I am coming to industrialise the state, make friends with the workers, they will earn the 13th month salary and the money they give to their girlfriends in December can pay for 13th month salary. Why can’t you make people happy? Ekiti is in a hurry to develop and I will make sure industrialisation takes place.
All over the world, certificates are worthless, because when you have the basic education, you will be able to be productive, not about parading certificates. Look at this singer, David Adeleke, Davido, he is about the richest in the music industry. We must teach people skills from elementary school days. Also, agriculture will be a priority and I must add that human capital development is lacking in Ekiti State.
As an elder statesman and one of the founding fathers of Ekiti, what have you observed about Ekiti politics since 1999?
It has been dwindling. In 1999, people like Baba Aina and Pa Ayo Fasanmi, who trained under late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, brought politics through the defunct AD. When AD was rubbished, different characters started coming. Now that it has started degenerating, nobody is looking at track records and idea of progressiveness because money bags are dominating. In the past, when we started politics, we were asked to stay outside Cocoa House in the old Ondo State, no matter how rich we were. In those days, I would carry Alhaji Adeyemo and other leaders from Ekiti to Akure, yet I would be denied entry to attend the meeting. I would stay outside, while the political leaders deliberated inside. But today what do you have? You will see cocaine pushers at the high table during meetings. I am sorry for politicians in the South-West and the country. It is unfortunate that we are having this crop of leaders in our society today, but I can tell you that we will resist it in Ekiti State, come June 18.
What do you expect the electorate to look out for in the candidates as they prepare to elect a new governor of the state?
Do you know that as I am talking to you, none of these candidates have a manifesto? I started distributing my manifesto over a year ago. I am prepared for the election. Not that my Oga’s wife put me there, Oga so pe (the boss says). That era should not rear its ugly head again. Let the people assess the governorship candidates and see the best with ideas to develop Ekiti State. Like I told some people, I am not like those who want to go to Government House if elected. This is because I want to feel for the people. I have no police guards. Ekiti people are the ones guarding me. In my own government, If you are from Ikere, Ogotun and Igbara-Odo, go there, come from there to the office. Through that, you will be able to know the problems of your people.
What are your expectations from INEC?
I have spoken to some people in INEC. When politicians want to make or mar an election, it is through INEC. We have heard from the grapevine that some people have been planted there by a governor, but I don’t want to mention names because I am a lawyer. INEC will be told in the language they understand to conduct free and fair elections. Anything short of that will set Ekiti on fire. It will be unprecedented and by far worse than the incident of 1983. INEC should be neutral and unbiased. Most people don’t have more information about the election, but people in government are already boasting around that they know everything to manipulate the election because they have a national commissioner there giving them tips. Already, a petition is being written against the individuals allegedly planted by the governor.
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
