A former secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State, Dr. Tope Aluko, has said that his fight against the governor of the state, Mr. Ayo Fayose, was as a result of interference from some quarters.
Aluko said this in Lagos at about 11:20pm on Sunday after he was accosted by journalists who spotted him while paying a visit to Fayose at the VIP section of the Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island.
The former Ekiti PDP scribe shot to national limelight in 2015 after claiming that Fayose, with about $37m from the immediate-past President, Goodluck Jonathan, rigged the 2014 governorship election in the state.
He also claimed that he attended a series of meetings in the Presidential Villa in Aso Rock, Abuja, where strategies on how to rig the election in the state were perfected with the help of about 44 special strike teams consisting of security men assigned to harass top members of the opposition All Progressives Congress in Ekiti at the time.
Aluko, who was a bit nervous on sighting journalists as he stepped out of the hotel lobby with Fayose, said, “Indeed, I met with my brother, Governor Ayodele Fayose, and through the help of well-meaning Nigerians such as the former Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr. Dele Olugbemi, we are resolving our issues. In fact, we have made an appreciable progress and we hope and pray to God that there will be peace.
“It is true that we had a lot of misunderstanding stemming from outside interference, but I am happy to say that we are now talking as a family. I and Governor Fayose have known each other for over 40 years; he is a big brother to me, somebody I have so much respect for. So, we are making progress.”
In his reaction, Fayose said he bore no grudge against Aluko despite the barrage of allegations he made against him.
According to him, being the father of the state demands that he accommodates everybody and always strives to achieve peace regardless of the person or issue in question.
He said, “I am the father of the state and so whatever has happened in the past, I, as a father, must be able to play my role without prejudice. If I leave Dr. Aluko to the whole world, who would be there for him? Nobody. I am his father, I am his brother, whatever the past has held for all of us, I am still his father.
“In politics we learn to resolve issues everyday and on this one we have made considerable progress like he said. Whether we talk of forgiveness or not, Aluko remains my boy, my son. Like I said, whatever has happened, whatever he has said in the public glare, whatever you have seen, it’s time to move beyond that.”
Aluko, a former Chairman, Security and Intelligence Committee of Fayose’s campaign organisation, had made the startling revelations during a programme on Channels Television, in Lagos last year following claims that the Ekiti governor reneged on the pre-election promise he made to him. He said Fayose had assured him that he would emerge as his Chief of Staff if he won the election.
But the state PDP has described the meeting between Fayose and the expelled former Secretary of the party, Aluko, as personal.
The state Publicity Secretary of the party, Jackson Adebayo, said the outcome of the meeting would not affect the expulsion of Aluko from the party.
He stated as far as the PDP in Ekiti State was concerned, “Aluko has been expelled and he remained expelled.”
“After collaborating with the APC to cause the confusion that he caused, I can say it categorically that Aluko is not welcomed in the PDP in Ekiti State.
“Perhaps, he is targeting the next convention of the party so that he can perpetrate another treacherous act, but I can tell Nigerians, especially our teeming members and supporters in Ekiti State, that even though we respect our leader, Governor Fayose, and we trust his judgment, a treacherous man like TKO Aluko is not welcomed in the PDP.”
Also, the Special Assistant to Fayose on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said on Monday that Aluko’s decision to eat the humble pie was a confirmation of his earlier claims that the ex-PDP secretary was an unstable character.
Olayinka in a statement signed in his personal capacity in Ado Ekiti said his position had been that “he (Aluko) can make a 360 degree turn around and return to the same Governor Fayose that he claimed rigged election because he lacked integrity.”
“Being the person that faced Aluko on television interviews where he told all the lies that he told against Governor Fayose and the people of Ekiti State, I am constrained to make my position known on this new development.
“Even though Governor Fayose, being someone with a large heart may not be too happy that I am making this statement, but as one of the major dramatis personae in the whole saga, my conscience won’t allow me to just keep silent after all the pains and confusion caused by Aluko.
“I did say on that giving the right situation or after Aluko must have concluded his scamming of the APC and its gullible leaders, he will return to Governor Fayose and recant everything that he had said.”
Source: PUNCH
