I cannot be cowed by threats from any quarters--Ayodele Fayose

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to tread cautiously and be mindful of the body language of those hailing him today.

The governor, who said he was aware of sinister plots to destabilise his government because of his strong and truthful stands on national issues, vowed to “continue to speak the truth no matter whose ox is gored.”

Reminding the President that he is not heading a military regime, Fayose added that he could not be cowed by threats from any quarters.

According to a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose urged Buhari to take the advice of the former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee, which told him to tread cautiously.

The statement said, “Opposition is one of the roots on which democracy stands and any President or governor that does not want opposition will eventually become a dictator.”

“I want to state without fear or favour that I will continue to speak the truth no matter whose ox is gored. Nigeria belongs to all of us and no one can intimidate me or the good people of Ekiti State who freely and overwhelmingly gave me their mandate.”

“Democracy as a form of government thrives on our ability to ask questions and get answers from our leaders.”

The governor urged the President to listen to wise counsel from Abubakar.

“The Peace Committee has reminded the President that he is not heading a military government and with the calibre of Nigerians in the committee, their wise counsel should not be ignored.”

“These are Nigerians who don’t need personal favours from the President and he should get the message very clearly that he is being told not to act as a dictator,” Fayose said.

Fayose, who also advised the President to know that Nigerians were not interested in “any honeymoon,” but their well-being, added that Buhari’s achievements in his first 100 days so far were “harassment of Peoples Democratic Party leaders, appointment of his in-law and kinsmen into sensitive positions, selective fight against corruption and arrest and detention of INEC officials who worked in states won by the PDP.”

While declaring support for the fight against corruption, Fayose however noted that “fighting corruption should not be synonymous with convicting Nigerians on the pages of newspapers.”