The Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose on Tuesday said his criticisms of President Muhammadu Buhari was not borne out of his hatred for him but out of his conviction that at 73, Buhari was not strong enough to lead a complex country like Nigeria.
The governor, who spoke at an event organised by the Oyo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists to celebrate the World Press Freedom Day in Ibadan, said those who voted for Buhari in the last presidential election did not know who he was.
He stressed that in the last one year, Nigeria had never had it so bad, noting that the fuel crisis, exchange rate of dollar to naira, killings by Fulani herdsmen and power situation were indices that showed that Buhari’s government lacked the idea to rule the country.
Fayose said, “People say that I abuse Buhari, I am not abusing him because he is like my grandfather but I know the history. Eighty per cent of people that voted for Buhari in the South-West did not know him. They are between 18 and 40. They voted because they wanted change desperately and I agree with them. He left government 32 years ago so they did not experience his rule.
“Today, the Peoples Democratic Party is no longer in government so they should stop blaming the PDP. They told us that dollars would become one to one with the naira. But where is that today? The regime of fuel subsidy is gone and we now have food subsidy. Queues are back at petrol stations. Whatever I say is divine. The next thing to happen will be the removal of the Kogi State governor. I have not lost a battle in my life and when I lost one, I came back to win.
“We have never had it so bad like in the last 12 months; electricity has gone to zero and we no longer have light in our houses. I am here to tell Nigerians that we are in the wrong direction because you cannot give what you don’t have. There is a time to retire because of the diminishing return on the functionality of the brain. At 75, my mother can do little.”
The governor also criticised the anti-corruption war of Buhari, describing it as biased.
“When you want to deal with corruption, do it wholeheartedly. Don’t say because this person has now joined the All Progressives Congress, he is now a saint. When I was supporting the ACN, they gave me many titles. Now that I am no longer with them, they see me as an enemy,” he said.