In this first part of a no-holds-barred interview with PT’ Josiah Oluwole in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, speaks about his administration, President Muhammadu Buhari, and other matters.

PT: You have been in office for over one year now? How has it been? What difference have you made in the lives of Ekiti people?

Fayose: You will recall that I am a second term governor and I must have come with some level of experience otherwise we will be in a very serious and a very terrible situation as a government. This is beside the fact that the economy of the state under the last administration was not impressive. The handling of the economy and other things that happened created a lot of challenges for this administration. I employed a strategy to be transparent and took time to engage the people. When you engage the people in the running of your government, it would leave no room for stories and fifth columnists. You will have the people defend you in the event of any misinformation. The other issue that we cannot ignore is the financial inabilities facing my government as a result of the borrowings of the last administration. One, Ekiti earns about the least in Nigeria. Again, Ekiti has low level internally-generated revenue. When you put all this together, it is not an easy run for the government.

The last administration took two sets of loans – the loan from commercial bank and the bond. The bond was for N25billion and the commercial loan was for N31billion, aside from unpaid salaries. These, put together, have handicapped the government from functioning. But it is not enough to tell stories because we told the Ekiti people that we have answers to these problems, so we have to face it. After explaining the cause of the situation to the people, we still have to find solution to the problems. We reduced the size of government. We had about 34 permanent secretaries heading MDAs. We had to cut it down to 25. Of the 25, we have statutory boards like the Teaching Service Commission, Local Government Service Commission, the Civil Service Commission, etc. They are boards you cannot run like the regular ministries. Cutting the size of government and being realistic is important. Before you do that, you have to be an example. You have to run government like your personal business in terms of the fact you have to feel the pains as an individual in order to win the trust of the people.

We ensured the blockage of all wastages. Even at that, the nose-diving of the allocation that comes to the state is another challenge. Between January to October 2014 when (former governor) Fayemi was here and January to October 2015, we had a shortfall of about N11billion of what accrued to the state within the space of 10 months. That made it uneasy for us to run the government. Within the ambit of this, we need to maintain the payment of salaries. One of the things that can cause the downfall of any government is when you cannot pay the wages of your workers or issues that tend to mortgage the future of workers.

PT: Are the Ekiti people following you in the austere measures you are introducing at the moment?

Fayose: The working class is the pulse of the people because the political class is seen as political heads. When you pay salaries it goes down to the commoners. The man that get his wages will have to get his food in the market, he will have to buy pepper, he will buy fuel and all that and in turn the economy expands and the people are reached. One of my strategies is to bring the workers together and declare the earnings of government every month. There is a document from Abuja that says this is your earnings. I give it to them. The state wage bill is supposed to be N2.6 billion but what we got was N1.375 billion.

That is about half. They know that this government is transparent. I make public announcement. I declare the assets of government. The standing committee of the labour, the NUJ, and all that, come together and I ask them to look into the balance and see how we can pay wages. Actually, if they see that what you earn is not up to what you will pay, they know that it is not the fault of the governor. But what we try to do is to ensure that whatever comes is used judiciously for the benefit of everybody. So communication is important. Many people do not know the purpose of the austere measures. They don’t know the price of oil. They only know the status of their stomachs and so you have to educate them. My style is a government that is in tune with everybody. I am a governor that goes to everywhere and every home. I call the different segments of the society and intimate them. They are happy and they know I am giving my best.

PT: What differences can you spot between your first tenure in office and now?

Fayose: Let me tell you this that it is on record that I took over government in 2003 when the economy was at its lowest ebb. Workers were owed salaries. I recall that I paid all the salaries. At my departure I left over N10billion in the coffers of government. We spent N1.14billion as part of contribution for the recapitalization of Wema Bank, among the states of Oodua. And in the entire tenure, I did not borrow a dime to run the state. Far reaching projects that touched the lives of the Ekiti people were carried out under my government. Forget about politics of blackmail and all the noise. There was no road in Ekiti that was dualised before my coming in 2003. I had to summon courage to demolish houses and pay compensation. I did Ikere to Ado-Ekiti, from Ado-Ekiti up till the state hospital. I did Irona, that is, Mathew Street junction up to Ilawe. I was the one that did Adebowo to the police headquarters. I built the Governor’s Office, the fire station. I built the popular Ayo Fayose Market. Even if you don’t like my face, you have to call that market. I built the road from Ikere to Igbara-Odo, from Igbara-Odo to Ikogosi, from Ikogosi to Aramoko, from Aramoko to Efun-Alaye, and from Ado to Afao. I recall that I built the road from Afao to Ire, and so on. I did a lot you cannot forget so soon.

PT: Why are you not able to do the same now?

Fayose: We are doing our best within available resources. We just dualised Awodele and we are doing many more. But it is more challenging now because of the debt profile of our state. We are going to continue to service it until the year 2036. It is more challenging. They have committed the state so badly. If I come here and tell you that it is not challenging I will be deceiving you. The difference is that we are carrying the people along so they can understand where we have found ourselves. Up till the time the bailout (funds) provided the leeway, it was not easy at all.


Read Full Interview @ http://www.zubbyblog.com/interview-how-i-can-bring-buharis-govt-down-fayose/

Tempted to say Longwriteupphobia..
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Nairaland official comedian