Ayodele Oni, Ado Ekiti
A chieftain of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP in Ekiti state, Lanre Ogunsuyi has described the immediate past governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose as selfish and greedy.
He said this perception has dwarfed Fayose’s achievements as a governor.
Ogunsuyi who served as a commissioner in Fayose’s administration said the action of the ex-helmsman has affected the fortunes of the party in the state.
In a short interview with the magazine the party stalwart also said that the country cannot move forward except appointment of political appointees are based on competence.
He said the leadership must do away with the zoning formula if Nigeria must attain full potential and develop economically.
Mr Ogunsuyi also opined that the choice of ministers and commissioners should be need driven particularly in areas that require intervention.
According to him, “that section of the constitution which makes it mandatory that each state should be represented at the federal executive council should be amended.
This is not rational; each state has senators and Reps members representing it at the federal level. The presidency is expected to work with these people to be abreast of problems in states.
Appointing ministers from each state is just like constituting another representative council, like the Senate and House of Representatives, he said.
He further explained that the situation is enough to deplete the nation’s meager resources “It costs a lot of money to maintain them, they are always problems to Governors in states. I don’t know how ministers have contributed to improve the welfare of their people.
We sacrifice meritocracy on the altar of zoning. Late Chiefs Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi.Azikiwe would not have been heard if zoning was in vogue during their time.
Zoning makes us to sacrifice competence.”
Ogunsuyi pointed out that Nigeria should endeavour to catch up in development ladder before we start to rotate political offices among the geo political zones of the country.
Speaking on the nation’s economic woes, the former commissioner stated that the two leading candidates in the last presidential election, Atiku Abubakar and Mohammadu Buhari were not economists and the major problem of Nigeria at present is more of economic issues and unemployment.
“It is unfortunate that the country is still battling with the problem of energy, for 20 years, there is no solution to it, he said”
Describing Presidents and Governors as despots, Ogunsuyi said that even ministers and commissioners find it difficult to see and discuss with them.
