Debate… Fayose, Oshiomhole: Governors or noise makers?

In from Timothy Enietan-Matthew

The duo of governors Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State are no strangers to Nigerians. They are both known for what they are: controversial, vociferous, ‘trouble-courters’, attention seeking and lastly, unofficial spokespersons of the two major political parties in the country.

Ayo Fayose
Governor Fayose came to national limelight in 2003 when against expectations defeated former Governor Niyi Adebayo, who was seeking reelection. Fayose went ahead to prove that he is not a conformist and in the process, ran into trouble waters that led to his impeachment.

After several years in the wilderness, the Ekiti State chief executive was reelected again to lead the state, making him the first governor in the history of the country to win election to the same office he was impeached from.

Since his return to office however, Governor Fayose seems to have assumed a new role and taken a new mandate upon himself. It will be recalled that Fayose was a torn in the flesh of the then opposition All Progressives Congress, APC and its presidential candidate as the nation prepared for the general elections.

However, Fayose has gone a step further by becoming the critic-in-chief of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. He attacks virtually everything the President, his administration and party has done since taking over power on May 29 this year.

Fayose on account of his combative approach of criticisms of the Buhari administration was named the Leader of the Opposition by the Ekiti State House of Assembly at a special session called for that purpose. It is however yet to be seen if such an office exists in the system of government Nigeria practices.

The crux of the matter however is the fact that Fayose has remained a lone voice among his peers in the People Democratic Party, PDP. Except for the occasional jibes from Olisa Methu, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP for the sake of the dictates of his office, there has been a deafening silence from the camp of the PDP. The party and its members, especially governors, seem to have been scared into a recoil as far as speaking against the government in power is concerned.

Read also: Buhari is deceiving Nigerians – Fayose

Fayose would not be cowed and has vowed to keep speaking his mind, and fight to the death by speaking out against what he sees as the dictatorial tendencies of the Buhari administration.

Fayose, who was described as the ‘egungun’ (masquerade) of Ekiti politics, has variously attacked the federal government and recently labeled it a deceit.

He said; “in the last six months, a section of the judiciary has been so openly manipulated by the Buhari’s administration such that different judgments were given in similar cases, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) getting negative judgments while the All Progressives Congress (APC) secured positive judgements in cases with similar facts and evidences.”

One thing however stands Fayose out; he does not punch unnecessarily and would not allow his aides to speak against President Buhari and his administration in derogatory manner without authorization. The governor once refuted a statement purportedly issued in his name, saying he did not authorize it and most recently, sacked the Secretary to the State Government for speaking against the Federal Government without clearance. The import of this is ‘let me carry my cross, don’t speak for me’.

Adams Oshiomhole
Oshiomhole, whose second term in office is fast winding down, on the other hand, has taken up the job of chief anti-corruption crusader of the current federal government, speaking out against alleged acts of corruption perpetrated under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan more than any other person in the APC camp.

Oshiomhole seems more pained by the alleged corrupt practices than President Buhari himself and the Accidental Civil Servant now governor of Kadına State, Nasır El-Rufai, who many had believed will play the role Oshiomhole has been playing on account of his temperament and penchant for taking people on before becoming governor.

The snag, however is that Oshiomhole appears to have narrowed his fight to one person; Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was Jonathan’s minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy. He has continually attacked her tenure as minister, reeling out humongous figures she allegedly frittered away, with Okonjo-Iweala always debunking such allegations and alleging malice.

Oshiomhole capped his crusade against the former World Bank executive on Thursday when he pointedly called for her prosecution.

You may also like: Okonjo-Iweala, others must be prosecuted, Oshiomhole insists

Oshiomhole said: “The federal government’s quest to recover stolen funds under the immediate past administration will not be meaningful unless Okonjo-Iweala was prosecuted for her alleged role in supervising and coordinating the mismanagement of the nation’s economy.

The Edo State governor does not give a hoot what people think about him and his boisterous outburst against former officials of the Jonathan administration, believing that he owes it a duty to speak out against the alleged atrocities committed by the former administration.

Those who know Osho Baba, as he is fondly called in Edo, since his days as a labour leader will attest to the fact that he is not about stopping compared to his governor colleagues in APC, who have seemingly decided to maintain an undignified silence since they assumed office.

Both men still have a lot of fight ahead of them, and Nigerians can be assured to still hear a lot from them. Given that the Buhari administration still has about three years to go, invariably, Fayose still has three years to carry the unofficial mantle of PDP’s mouthpiece, standing as the lone voice among the PDP governors, throwing gibes at the APC-led federal government.

And on his part, since the present administration is determined to carry on with its anti corruption fight, Oshiomhole will definitely have loads of arsenal to throw at those who may be indicted, or those he perceives to have contributed to getting the country to its present sorry state of affairs.

Views are divergent on the unofficial roles both men have assigned to themselves. While some say it is good for the polity, and that other governors need to join in, others say they should face the primary assignment of governing their respective states and stay off commenting on federal issues.

What do you think? Share your thoughts or comments.

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