…’Read my speech again. I did not accept defeat.’ Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has countered the widespread belief that he conceded defeat to his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenger, Mr. Ayodele Fayose who was declared winner of the June 21 governorship poll in the state. In his first interview after the election granted to Dapo Thomas, a journalist and university teacher who also writes for Sunday Sun, Fayemi asked anyone who thought he accepted the outcome to read the transcript of his post-election broadcast again. “Anyone who understands the English language well would know that that speech was…
Author: Ekiti News
The Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) yesterday held a referendum on the creation of new 18 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). Controversy had trailed the creation of the new LCDAs and the referendum, with the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) kicking against the creation, while also calling on the people to shun the referendum. The exercise, which held at designated primary schools in the 137 wards across the 12 affected local government areas, commenced at about 8 am with the registration of interested voters and ended at 4pm. Describing the exercise as a huge success, Chairman…
The Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission (EKSIEC) is set to conduct referendum in 12 out of the 16 Local Government Areas, covering 137 wards across the State on Saturday. The referendum which was directed by the state House of Assembly is to allow citizens of the state to approve or disapprove (through a referendum) the newly created 18 local council development areas announced by the state government. The Commission said in a statement in Ado-Ekiti on Friday that adequate arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of the referendum, while assuring that sufficient number of Local Government SIEC staff have been…
Since the dawn of Sunday June 22, when the astonishing result of the June 21 gubernatorial election was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), the media has been saturated with diverse opinions from various arm-chair analysts. Mr Akin Osuntokun’s piece, which appeared on the back-page of Thisday of July 4, 2014 falls into this category. As he stated, he is from Ekiti like myself, and it is expected that we both should have vested interests in the whole affair, though, Mr Osuntokun, a diehard conservative member of the PDP, may have complicated the mind of some readers by…
Reading Segun Ayobolu’s “researched piece” on Ekiti June 21 election, which is essentially a diatribe against Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi titled : “Further Thoughts on Ekiti Polls” in his back page column in The Nation Newspapers last Saturday, one must extend deep sympathies to Ayobolu as he toiled laboriously, employing all the lies he could muster and expired beer parlour gist, to deconstruct Governor Fayemi and find justification for the highly controversial loss of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the election. Placed side by side with his first opinion article on Ekiti election published by the…
Wife of Ekiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, has said that events unfolding after the June 21 governorship election in the state suggest that the election was manipulated from ‘source.’ In due course, she said that the full story of how the elections were allegedly manipulated against the Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, would be revealed. The First Lady bared her mind while delivering a keynote address at the 50th anniversary public lecture and award ceremony of the state chapter of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA). The theme of her address was “Women yesterday, today and tomorrow – the…
Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has described the death of Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Bamidele Aturu as “very tragic and unfortunate”. Fayemi in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, said the death of the prominent lawyer is an unprecedented loss to the pro-democracy and human rights community in Nigeria. He said Aturu’s demise has robbed the oppressed of an irrepressible defender, a tireless advocate and a committed fighter of injustice, oppression and repression in the Nigerian society. The Governor said he received the news with shock as no one expected the death…
As the ink is yet to dry on the analysis of the results of the recent Ekiti poll and the landslides that are reminiscent of 1983 under the now-defunct NPN (National Party of Nigeria) now seems like child’s play, I feel compelled to comment for many reasons, which I will summarise below: The Eminent Public Commentators These are some of our most seasonal, informed and respected columnists, whose back page writings have shaped opinion in the public space on the many Nigerian newspapers. As I read several of them in the week commencing on Monday the 23rd of June, 2014,…
The crusading cleric and columnist, Gabriel Akinnadewo, in his book, “Here comes the Commander-in-Chief” said: “Since the end of the Nigerian Civil War in 1970, Nigeria has fought many wars. Yes, wars because election in this country is war. We fought in 1979, 1983, 1993, 1999, 2003 and 2007. Another one is coming in 2011…” That was the setting when Akinnadewo wrote his piece and he could not have been more pin-point accurate and apt. But the Saturday, June 21, 2014 gubernatorial election in Ekiti did not tally with the above Akinnadewo template and fear perhaps due to the heavy…
I met John Kayode Fayemi sometime in 1984 when we were both Student Activists at the University of Lagos. He graduated in 1985; I graduated in 1987. He represented Eni Njoku Hall while I came from Moremi Hall to serve on an ad-hoc committee on some issue then. Kayode was the calm, studious type; never heard him raise his voice even in the heat of many arguments that characterised student unionism. He also joined us in ‘Theatre 15’. So, we hung out socially with other friends sometimes but he was more studious than sociable. He was always an introvert, not…