Question :Fayose has said that you have never attracted any Federal Government project to Ekiti State as a minister. This is an opportunity for you to tell the whole world how you have used the office to the benefit of your home state.
Fayemi: The trouble with Ayo Fayose is that every time he opens his mouth, he exhibits an unbelievable level of ignorance which underscores why our state is in the doldrums.
I have told the whole world what I have used my office to benefit Ekiti and to benefit the whole of Nigeria not once, not twice. I am Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I am not Minister for Ekiti State affairs. Governors who love their people and want progress for their states know how they get things for their states.
For his information, I am responsible for mineral resources development in 36 states and the contiguous water bodies offshore. But yes, I am also the representative of Ekiti in the Federal Executive Council and what I have done with the position is tangible, measurable and clear and for his information – it is better than what was done for our state in the previous sixteen years when PDP was in the saddle in the centre. And i must confess that his irresponsible behaviour and crass incompetence have made things more difficult for our state and prevented her from even more benefits from the FG. but to come back to what we have done.
Take for example the federal secretariat. For the last sixteen years, Ekiti has been trying desperately to have a major federal secretariat here where all the federal institutions will operate from. I went on inspection yesterday to check how far work has gone in the Federal Secretariat (under construction) and I am pleased with the progress being made. That project was awarded under this Buhari administration and I knew how it was awarded, I don’t want to claim credit for anything but I knew what I had to do to ensure that the Minister (in charge) not only awarded it but awarded it to a competent company run by Ekiti indigenes.
That is one. Number two, former Governor Rotimi Amaechi has never stopped telling people why he had to extend the rail to Ekiti State which was not in the original standard guage rail plan put together by the PDP.
Ekiti was not factored into the plan done by the Jonathan administration or the Obasanjo administration before it. The only time Ekiti State found its way into the federal rail project is under this administration and I went to meet the President and pleaded with minister Amaechi that the rail should be extended to our state.
You have heard of N-Power, nearly 4,000 Ekiti indigenes are beneficiaries of N-Power as we speak and if we wait for another two months, over 12,000 Ekiti citizens will be beneficiaries of N- Power. That is an initiative that is akin to our own Youth Volunteer Scheme, just like the Social Security benefit which we are paying at the federal level now is similar to our Social Security scheme in Ekiti. I know what the families of those young men and women who are now getting N30,000 monthly on account of N-power are saying about president Buhari. Ekiti public servants are being owed from six to eight months salaries; N-Power beneficiaries got their December salary on 22nd of December.
I am talking broadly now. Let me come down to mining; the Nigerian Geological Surveys Agency has just completed a comprehensive survey of kaolin in Ekiti and the result is very promising The next phase is to move into production. We are commencing the exploration of bauxite, lithium and feldspar and we are pulling together all the small scale miners in Ekiti to enable them benefit from the recently launched N5 billion support fund placed in the Bank of Industry. The Central Bank that has been languishing for years is almost completed, I was there yesterday ditto the youth in agriculture scheme is being expanded at the federal level.
When people open their mouth and say Federal Government has not done anything and the person who has the temerity to say this to people in Ekiti collects every month, Budget Support Fund, Bailout Funds, Paris Club release in addition to the Federal Allocation to which the state is entitled, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that this is more a celebration of ignorance. I’ve not mentioned the Ecological Funds he collected, the refunds on the roads that I did which has now gone through the Federal Executive Council or the Central Bank’s N2.2 billion SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) fund and he can stand before people to say all sorts of rubbish. I know he believes that lying is what has given him success in politics since he believes Ekiti people are ignorant and gullible. Somebody who has zero integrity can open his mouth and talk; a man who could steal from his own pocket – look at what he did with the delegates’ funds at their recent convention. And a shameless man like that is still talking?
No wonder, nobody came out for his local government elections charade because Ekiti people are fed up with this man. I see it daily, they come to me saying ‘what can you do to help us to get rid of this man.’ I say to them he has four years and he has immunity but immunity is not permanent, some of us had immunity before and we are walking the streets of Ekiti today without immunity. ButI know people who will not walk the streets of Ekiti the day they stop being governor of this state. We will all be here and will see what will happen.