Fayemi, Fayose Ignore Political Differences, Embrace In Public

Despite years of trading blames and hot exchange of words, the governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi and his predecessor, Ayodele Fayose, have embraced each other in public.

The drama happened at the ceremony organized in honour of Afe Babalola, a revered lawyer and senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) which held at Victoria Island, Lagos, on Wednesday.

Fayemi had delivered a speech and was walking to his seat when Fayose stood to greet him.

In his response to the gesture, Fayemi threw his arms wide open as both men got locked in a warm embrace.

The action sparked sounds of clap and laughter in the hall and in reaction both men raised their hands in solidarity.

Earlier, when the governor delivered his speech, he cleverly attacked Fayose when he said, “I am immensely proud that baba (Afe Babalola) is from Ekiti. You have restored our values for us. With you around, at least no one can accuse us of being the state of stomach infrastructure. They will definitely regard us as the fountain of knowledge.”

However, Fayose’s gesture showed that he did not hold the words of his successor against him.

Recall that Fayose and his successor have constantly traded words over political matters ranging from the campaigns that led to Fayemi’s election, who ruled the state better and the state politics at large.

One of the latest verbal exchange was Fayemi’s allegation that said the debt profile of the state as at October 16, 2018, when he was sworn in as governor, stood at N155,791,785,214.08k, a claim that was refuted by Fayose.

“When a governor goes about advertising signing of 2019 budget as a major programme of his 100 days in office, such a governor should be pitied.

“On September 8, 2018, Fayemi said Ekiti debt was N117 billion. On October 17, 2018, the same Fayemi claimed the debt was N170 billion. Today, he is talking about N155 billion, so which one should the public believe?” the former governor had said.

Recall also that Fayose accused Fayemi of invading the venue of the wedding ceremony of the daughter of Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe with thugs to attack him.

Fayemi, however, reacted to the accusation by saying he had no hand in the incident, stating that Fayose’s enemies are within the PDP.

Chief Afe Babalola is the third recipient of the Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership after nobel laureate professor Wole Soyinka and former president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki.

The event was attended by Yakubu Gowon, former head of state, Emeka Anyaoku, former secretary-general of Commonwealth, prominent traditional rulers and politicians.