UPDATED: Obasanjo speaks on frosty relationship with ex-governor Ayo Fayose

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has shared his thoughts on former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose’s past mistakes while celebrating his achievements in the political landscape.

Mr Obasanjo spoke at Mr Fayose’s 65th birthday celebration on Saturday.

“You are not the best of my political children, you are not,” Mr Obasanjo said to Mr Fayose during his closing remarks. “But you have made achievements that must not be ignored.”

For nearly two decades, the two men nursed animosity towards each other. The hostility between them harked back to 2006 when Mr Fayose and his then deputy governor, Abiodun Olujimi, were removed from office by the state House of Assembly. Mr Fayose believed then-President Obasanjo to be the architect of the plot for his removal from office.

In October 2006, less than a month after Mr Fayose was removed from office, Mr Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in the state, following the turmoil that resulted from the impeachment saga.

The state of emergency saw the state House of Assembly suspended, as President Obasanjo appointed Tunji Olurin as the sole administrator of the state. Mr Olurin governed the state till April 2007.

However, the Supreme Court would years later, in April 2015, declare Mr Fayose’s removal by the state House of Assembly illegal. As of that time, his tenure in office had long expired, so he never returned to office, until he staged a comeback in 2014 when he won election for a second term.

While the animosity between them lingered, Mr Fayose never missed an opportunity to attack Mr Obasanjo. He once asked for a refund of the N10 million he donated to the presidential library built by Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State, in 2005 with interest. He said Mr Obasanjo, as president, compelled the governors who were members of the Peoples Democratic Party to donate N10 million each to his project.

A walk down memory lane

At the birthday celebration, the ex-president recounted how he knew the host, supported his governorship bid, and their relationship turned sour.

“I knew you (Mr Fayose) because of the initiative that you took to start giving water in Ekiti, and that was what set you apart,” Mr Obasanjo said.

“I didn’t know you before then. I was told to support SK Babalola, who had a beautiful track record in the NUT for many years,” Mr Obasanjo said. “But when you came up, then I dropped him — he wasn’t even in our (political) party.”

The former president said, as governor, Mr Fayose consulted with him on how to help the poultry farmers, and he advised him to subsidise the chick feeds for them instead of going into poultry.

“You decided you were going into poultry, and I said, … what will you do? And it comes in four days,” Mr Obasanjo said.

He recalled that he once made a trip to his poultry farm and noticed that it was clean.

“And I turned to you and said Ayo, ‘your chicks don’t poo?’ And I heard your brother, Oyinlola, saying to you quietly that ‘If he doesn’t know anything , he knows poultry.’”

Apology, forgiveness

Mr Obasanjo said the former governor had come to him at least twice to apologise for his wrongdoings and he forgave him, but that “it (insults) didn’t stop.”

He said at one time, Mr Fayose was accompanied by his wife to seek forgiveness at former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s residence.

Additionally, he said, “even when you were abusing me, I still took an interest in your welfare.”

He added that when there was a controversy around Mr Fayose’s academic qualification, he spoke up for him.

He urged Mr Fayose to call those he might have wronged and seek forgiveness, and also forgive those who might have offended him.

Surprise invitation

The former president also recounted his surprise when he first learnt of Mr Fayose’s invitation.

He recalled that Mr Fayose first reached out to him through former transportation minister Osita Chidoka, whom he described as a political son.

“When Osita came to me and said, ‘Ayo,’ I asked, ‘Ayo who?’ He said Ayo Fayose. I told him to tell him, the message has been delivered.”

He noted that Mr Fayose called him afterwards, and he told him that he could come anytime to see him. Mr Obasanjo said, “Everybody should learn a lesson from that,” adding that the former governor still took precaution before coming to see him.

“You did not come directly to knock at my door,” the retired army general said. “You sent Folusho as an emissary to feel the pulse and about an hour later, you came,” Mr Obasanjo said.

The former president recalled that Mr Fayose subsequently visited him to further persuade him to attend the birthday celebration.

According to Mr Obasanjo, during their meeting at his residence, Mr Fayose telephoned his own wife and handed the phone to Mr Obasanjo to let her talk to him on the birthday invitation. Mr Obasanjo said he took the opportunity to scold the couple over his past grievances.

“I told your wife, ‘Madam, you and your husband, you are not ‘Omoluabi’ (responsible). She admitted and said ‘Baba, you are right. Please, forgive us.’ Then, when you get that, what else can I do?” The former president said with reference to a Yoruba adage that a ‘badly-behaved child cannot be chased into the lion’s den.’

But after making up his mind to honour the invitation, Mr Obasanjo said he was advised against attending the ceremony due to their frosty relationship.

“Before I started coming here, some people called me and said, ‘We heard that you are going to Ayo Fayose’s birthday (celebration). Can’t you remember that he abused you?’ I said, ‘Thank you for reminding me,’” Mr Obasanjo recalled his response.

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Meanwhile, Mr Obasanjo said he had to cut short his trip to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, to be present at the occasion.

He noted that he was supposed to be in Rwanda till Sunday but had to return on Saturday around 1 a.m. to grace the birthday celebration since he had promised Mr Fayose to be present “whatever it takes”.

He however said he hinged his attendance on Mr Fayose’s undertaking to pay for his flight back to Nigeria, as he was not prepared to pay for it from his pension. He said, although Mr Fayose sent some money to him, billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote sent an airplane that brought him back to the country.

Denial

The former president also clarified that he did not compel the former governor and his counterparts to donate toward his library project. “I did not ask you to contribute to my library. Did I? I did not,” Mr Obasanjo said. “The governors decided and you joined them.”