Fayemi: Looking at All Parameters, APC’ll Still Win 2023 Presidential Poll Sunday Interview Dr. Kayode Fayemi has been a leading national figure in the last 12 years, providing strategic leadership in different public of
Dr. Kayode Fayemi has been a leading national figure in the last 12 years, providing strategic leadership in different public offices he had the privilege to serve. Yesterday, he bowed out of office as Ekiti Governor amid accolades. Fayemi, who was elected President of the Forum of Regions of Africa, during its inaugural meeting in Morocco on September 10, became the governor of the state in 2010, when he reclaimed his stolen mandate and returned to the state house in 2018.
The fund has not come. AfDB then said it was okay for them. It would still be in Nigeria’s portfolio and the federal government can take it. But before taking it, the federal government must comply with our procurement process. This is the global standard procurement process. We had three teleconferences involving myself, the Minister of Works, the AfDB President, and the AfDB Country Director in Nigeria on this matter. So, the federal government agreed to take it over.
Restructuring is an idea whose time has come. I do not think we will be able to run away from it. It will be a major issue in the 2023 electoral campaign. It is already becoming an issue. I have seen the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party , Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, loudly talking about restructuring. I have seen the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi said he wants to dialogue with all the agitators.
I’m sure the private perception of President Buhari is that things have not worked out in the manner he had envisaged or had hoped they would. Without holding a brief for him, I have not been on that side now for four years when I left his cabinet. It is only fair to say that none of us ever anticipated the outbreaks of COVID-19.
When we came in 2018, there was a general disillusionment among public servants due to the backlog of unpaid salaries and abandoned infrastructure projects. The projects comprised those uncompleted during my first administration and Governor Ayodele Fayose’s term. If you compare those projects then to now, you will see what we have done. You will see significant differences. For me, bricks and mortar are important because people pay a lot of attention to them.
There were no 16 and19 factions. Everything went smoothly for that period. We were able to achieve a lot from the sub-national governments despite that 18 months out of the four years I spent was completely overtaken by COVID-19. For those 18 months, we had workers permanently at home, just receiving salaries, not working, and now coming to work as well. We never stopped their salaries for one day because of the outbreaks of COVID-19.