I don’t want to contest again, says Fayose

The Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has ruled out the possibility of contesting the senatorial seat in the 2019 general elections.

Clarifying that he will never seek any elective position again, he said his main preoccupation after leaving office would be to continue to agitate for a better Nigeria.

Fayose, however, refused to comment on the health status of President Muhammadu Buhari, when asked by journalists, saying he would watch events as they unfold before making any comment on the issue.

The governor spoke in Ado Ekiti, on Tuesday during a meeting with civil servants on grade levels one to seven in the state civil service.

Fayose, who saluted the workers for their courage and perseverance in the face of economic recession culminating in unstable payment of salaries, urged them to discountenance the rumour that he had received the second tranche of the Paris Club loan refund.

He explained that what the state got so far was N8.8bn, which was shared between the state and local governments, “with over 70 per cent of it expended on the payment of salaries instead of the 50 per cent agreed with the Federal Ministry of Finance.”

He advised the workers to register at the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration in the interest of Ekiti.

“I don’t want to contest again, not even for senatorial race in 2019. One thing I have learnt was that, Ekiti people don’t normally participate in some government policies where data are collated. And it used to affect us in getting extra grants or favour from the Federal Government and international agencies.

“The Federal Government is planning to renovate 1,000 health centres in Nigeria and Ekiti got only three. When I enquired, they said the data used to compile the figures didn’t favour Ekiti. If they are to register for polio vaccine, our people won’t make themselves available, because of nonchalant attitude.

“That is why I won’t care to declare more holidays for people to get registered. But I want to call on INEC to look into the faulty data capturing machines. We have had bad experiences since the commencement of the CVR programme last week and the commission must resolve all these anomalies in the interest of our people.

“I also want to note that all these problems won’t reoccur during the 2018 polls, that is the main reason why INEC, as a commission, must improve on its efficiency,” he said.

Fayose encouraged workers to indicate interest in the Fadama Graduate Unemployed Youth Support Programme for the training of 300 people in Ekiti that would specialise in commercial farming.

He added that his government was ready to give the necessary impetus to workers that showed interest in agriculture.