The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has warned President Muhammadu Buhari to eschew any plan of declaring a state of emergency in Ekiti and Rivers states.
Governor Fayose stated this on Monday, March 21, while speaking with State House Correspondents, in Aso Rock, shortly after taking part in the economic retreat organized by the National Economic Council, NEC, at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.
He maintained that his government is aware that President Buhari was planning a state of emergency in Rivers State over the bloody election rerun that took place over the weekend.
Recall that the All Progressives Congress, APC, had requested that President Buhari declares a state of emergency in Rivers State, in order to forestall political violence and the breakdown of law and order in the state.
“It is obvious that Governor Wike has lost control of the state. As the chief security officer of the state, his primary duty is to secure lives of the people in the state but he has failed to do this. The crisis in Rivers State could have ended if not for the unwillingness of “powerful people” in government in the state, “APC had said.
Speaking further, Fayose said if he went ahead with the plan, Buhari would be thought a lesson that power belongs to the people and not their leaders.
“They have been insinuating that (state of emergency) too in Ekiti. We have been waiting for them. Power has gone beyond the leaders; power has gone back to the people.
“You want to declare state of emergency, declare it and we will tell you that the state of emergency will not work too. This country belongs to all of us.”
He urged Buhari to sustain the legacy of free and fair elections which his administration inherited.
“The military has got no business in our election. If you watch the trend, PDP has always won all the elections after the annulment. Which means what happened in Rivers is just a service of ego of some individuals who believe they have Nigeria in their pockets and they can call the President at will to deploy the military.
“It is unfortunate that somebody would allow the military to kill his own people.
“I strongly condemn the elections in Rivers and charge that we sustain the legacy of transparent elections.
“For me in Ekiti, we learned from that and we are prepared. We prepare for election every day and we are fully prepared,” he added.
Fayose also insisted that the intimidation of members of the Ekiti state House of Assembly by men of the Department of State Services, DSS, had further confirmed what he described as the rascality of the agency of government.
He said it was unfortunate that the Federal Government would decide to look away and allow innocent Nigerians’ rights to be trampled upon.
Eze Afrika
