By Ayodele Oni
Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has unveiled his ambition to rule the State for a third term through any of his surrogates.
Dr Fayemi’s position is coming just as his party, the All Progressive Congress, (APC) in the State is yet to come out with any credible candidate for the Governorship election, which is just a few months away.
With the aspirants of the opposition People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) already picking forms for the election, APC members are still in dilemma over who will contest.
From investigations, it was gathered that members of APC in the State are waiting for the Governor to raise the hand of his successor so that they queue behind him.
They claimed that the waiting game was the fallout of the 2018 experience in which those of them that did not belong to JKF’s political family were sidelined in the scheme of things.
Already a particular political platform floated by some loyalists of Dr Fayemi, is speculating that his successor may be picked from among his cabinet members.
One, out of three prominent names, that of his Chief of Staff, Biodun Omoleye, Secretary to State Government, Biodun Oyebanji and Attorney General, Mr Wale Fapohunda, is being flaunted as likely successor.
At a function in Abuja on Thursday, where he addressed top Federal civil servants and political office holders, who are Indigenes of the state, Dr Fayemi hinted of his intention to pick a candidate that would continue with some of his programmes after his exit in October 2022.
Fayemi expressed hope that his successor would be from his party in order to continue some of his projects.
“I hope I am able to do my third term through whoever that would be coming. That is the magic of Lagos,” he said.
He lamented the low revenue base of the state saying that the fund, which he put at N3billion, was barely enough to pay salaries with almost nothing left to spend on infrastructure.
The Governor said because of the low revenue allocation, he has been relying on his ingenuity, network and support from development partners to bring development to the state.
“When you really look at it, we are 34 on the revenue ladder of this country.
“What comes to us is roughly N3 billion and by the time we settle the wage bill in the state, we have merely zero left for infrastructural development.
“We need to rely on the network that we have and the creativity and innovation of ourselves, engagement of development partners who have significantly supported us in the state.
“However, over the last three years, we have brought investments worth over $300 million in Ekiti state. That’s just a segment of our economy.”
