1st January, 2019
Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, has urged residents of the state not to perceive the coming general election as a do-or-die affair.
Fayemi disclosed this at a news conference to herald the New Year in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday.
He urged politicians and the electorate to put the interest of the state above parochial interest.
This, he said had become necessary for radical development of the state not to be stalled through desperation on the parts of a few.
He said the state 2019 budget tagged “Budget of Restoration” would be prosecuted diligently to redirect it to the path of economic sanity and recovery.
He said his administration would accord priority to payment of workers’ salaries and pensions as well as concretise the state’s development plan through the four-cardinal policy thrust of government.
“The intolerance, decadence, rot, abandonment, hopelessness and misplaced priority that pervaded the state in the past four years have inevitably increased the thirst of the people for good governance and the dawn of good tidings.
“We held meetings with every sector and stakeholders involved in the state project, signed five Executive Orders, and declared free education which culminated in the eradication of payment of all levies both at the primary and secondary school levels,
including payment of fees for the 14,000 pupils that will take WAEC examination in 2019.
“We constituted four visitation panels for stocktaking of major institutions and agencies, visited and assessed the damage done to multi billion naira abandoned projects that litter the state,” he said.
The governor said government had also been able to form strong synergies with the locals, corporate bodies and multinationals with the prime vision of making the state business friendly.
On the 2019 election, Fayemi said invidious acts that could trigger crisis must be avoided to prevent calamity in the state.
“As the electioneering season approaches, we must play by the rules and avoid politics of bitterness.
“Such must be avoided at all costs if we are to live in harmony. Political discourse should be civil with decorum and in a constitutional manner.
“We should learn from the lessons of the election conducted in the state in 2018 and draw encouragement from it outcome which was adjudged to be free and fair, and violence free without any loss of lives,” he said.