14th June, 2019
Nigerian Forum for Good Governance and Leadership has described ”the diatribes” by a former governor of Ekiti, Mr Ayo Fayose, against former President Olusegun Obasanjo over recognition of June 12 as condemnable.
President of the forum, Prof. Tejumade Akitoye-Rhodes, gave the reaction in a statement on Friday in Lagos.
Recall that Fayose had in a tweet on Thursday said the recognition of June 12 as Democracy Day by President Muhamnadu Buhari was to Obasanjo’s shame.
The former governor said that it was Obasanjo’s ego that prevented him from recognising June 12 and honouring late MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the election.
He commended Buhari for honouring the late politician, saying with the step, the president had done what Obasanjo failed to do for his kinsman.
”Honouring MKO Abiola by@Mr Buhari is to Obasanjo’s shame.
”It remains a sore point of his political history that because of ego, Obasanjo, who is the greatest beneficiary of the June 12, 1993 struggle, failed to honour his kinsman, MKO Abiola.
”So, I commend President Muhamnadu Buhari,” Fayose had said on his verified twitter handle @GovAyoFayose.
Reacting, Akitoye-Rhodes said Fayose’s comment against Obasanjo was untoward, uncouth and flew in the face of the long-standing Yoruba ”Omoluabi” symbolism, which emphasises respect for elders.
He said that Fayose had not grown beyond what he called his ”typical crudity” with the comment he described as ”puerile and indecent”.
The group’s president said Fayose had rather faced the corruption cases against him instead of engaging in what he called mudslinging against Obasanjo.
Akitoye-Rhodes pointed out that Obasanjo remained a dogged fighter for fairness and equity both nationally and globally, and Fayose’s diatribes could not diminish the former president.
”At a time all patriots are concerned about the multifarious challenges affecting the continuity of our nation, we at the Nigerian Forum for Good Governance and Leadership advise Mr Fayose to focus his attention on the corruption cases against him.
”He should face his cases in courts rather than engage in cheap mudslinging against a revered figure like Chief Obasanjo, who remains a dogged fighter for fairness and equity not only in this nation but across the world.
”If Mr Fayose thinks he can soften the ground for himself by praising President Buhari over June 12 Democracy Day honour for Abiola, he is deceiving himself.
”We are sure President Buhari who had been constantly abused and berated by Fayose is not fooled either,” he said.