Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state, has accused Babafemi
Ojudu, special adviser to the president on political matters, of blackmail.
The governor was reacting to a report in a national
newspaper which alleged that Fayemi had visited the presidential villa in Abuja
to win President Muhammadu Buhari over to Victor Giadom, deputy national
secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The report claimed that the visit was futile as the “duo
couldn’t see Buhari despite spirited attempts”.
Shortly after the report was published, Buhari backed Giadom
as the acting national chairman of the party.
Reacting in a statement on Wednesday, Yinka Oyebode,
Fayemi’s spokesman, alleged that the report was fabricated and sponsored by
Ojudu, who works in the office of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to tarnish the
governor’s reputation.
He said Fayemi has been silent on the crisis rocking the
party, adding that his remarks have been based on the position of the Nigeria
Governors’ Forum (NGF) which he heads.
Oyebode said Fayemi had met with Buhari earlier, alongside
three of his colleagues.
He said the governor later visited the presidential villa to
meet with Ibrahim Gambari, presidential chief of staff, adding that he did not
go with Giadom.
He urged Nigerians to ignore the story, saying it is an
“highly illogical concoction”.
“The attention of the general public is being drawn to a
misleading publication… with headline ‘Fayemi’s failed mission to Villa with
Giadom’, published in the online edition… on Wednesday, June 24th, 2020,” the
statement read.
“The falsehood, we gathered reliably, was fabricated by a
senior aide of the Presidency and a former Senator, Babafemi Ojudu, and planted
in The Nation Newspaper, after it was rejected by some State House
Correspondents, who rebuffed the former Senator for the misleading and malicious
story.
“It is on record that Senator Ojudu, in his desperate bid to
rubbish Governor Fayemi, had told his close associates that he would battle
Governor Fayemi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum
(NGF) with falsehood and cheap blackmail in his nefarious attempt to
destabilize APC in Ekiti State.
“For the purpose of clarity, it is important to state that
the Nation’s report was clearly a misleading one designed to cast aspersion on
the person of Governor Fayemi and create an impression that the NGF Chairman is
an unwanted visitor at the Villa. The largely unsubstantiated report was filled
with bile, childish and unexplainable fury that signified nothing, just like a
tale fit only for the tabloids.
“In setting the record straight, we hereby state
unequivocally that Governor Fayemi had no plan nor reason to see Mr President
on Tuesday late afternoon as maliciously presented in the Nation’s report. The
Governor, had earlier seen Mr President at noon in company of three of his
colleagues – Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Governor Simon Lalong
(Plateau) and Governor Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa). Also present at that meeting
were the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari and Honourable
Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
“Governor Fayemi was in the villa later in the afternoon to
see the COS and State Chief of Protocol (SCOP). The Ekiti State Governor was
never denied any opportunity to see President Buhari as he did not ask to see
the President and neither did he go with Chief Giadom.
“Governor Fayemi’s position on the APC crisis has been to
consistently subsume his views in the position of the Progressives Governors
Forum as expressed by the Chairman. He has not spoken on the party crisis in
any public forum but continue to urge all members and lovers of the party to
exercise restraint and support the leader of the party, President Mohammadu
Buhari and other leaders desirous of resolution to give peace a chance.”
When TheCable sought Ojudu’s reaction to Fayemi’s
allegation, he said: “This is false. Not worth responding to.’ In the words of
Socrates “when the argument is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”
Meanwhile, Buhari will attend the national executive
committee (NEC) meeting of the APC which Giadom fixed for Thursday.
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