Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi
Political gladiators in the country are already warming up towards the 2023 presidential election, less than five months into the second-term tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari. ‘YOMI AYELESO writes on the speculated ambition of the Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, for the country’s top seat.
Many of the elected public office holders are still trying to find their feet in the various offices they were elected into, some eight months ago. Indeed, most affected are some state governors who are yet to form their cabinets, five months after their inaugurations last May. But as the people are still watching the unfolding scenario across the state, speculations abound that some politicians are already positioning themselves for the presidency, ahead the 2023 elections.
Among those speculated to be eyeing the job of President Muhammadu Buhari if the Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi. It is been said in the state that as the governor is set to roll out the drums to celebrate the first year anniversary of his second coming as the state’s helmsman on October 16, he might actually be looking towards the 2023 presidential election, as events in the last few months portend.
President Buhari will be completing his two-term tenure of eight years in 2023 thereby making him ineligible to contest again for the seat, as stipulated by the constitution. Though not written, the expectation is that, with the zonal arrangement, power is expected to return to the southern part of the country.
The next presidential election is still over three years away from now, but political gladiators across the country are beginning to make moves ahead of the 2023 presidential election. Undoubtedly, Fayemi is seen as one of the closest allies of President Buhari in the southern part of the country, especially in the South-West.
The Ekiti State helmsman, who won his second term mandate last year after resigning as the Minister of Mines and Steels Development, will complete his tenure as governor in 2022, few months away from the next general election. His emergence as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), about five months ago, was unprecedentedly without any challenge as his colleagues from across political divides unanimously endorsed him to lead them.
Before Fayemi’s emergence as governor, one of the reservations some people had about him was that he appeared ambitious and that he might use his new position to promote his speculated presidential ambition on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
There is no doubting the fact that the chairmanship of the NGF carries a lot of political weight. Anyone who superintends over the affairs of such influential body and interfaces regularly with the governors of the 36 states of the federation will command a remarkable level of influence. It was in this wise that a number of observers submitted that Fayemi’s influence as the chairman of the NGF will put him in a good stead in the quest by the APC to pick a successor for President Buhari in 2023.
However, speculated ambition of the governor may set him against the equally touted presidential aspiration of a former Lagos State governor and the national leader of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu. Nevertheless, many are wont to say that his handling of the affairs of the NGF would certainly make or mar his chances as a major power broker in the build-up to getting the APC ticket in 2023.
Though there are sentiments (genuine or otherwise) within some sections in the ruling APC that it is the turn of the South-East to produce the party’s next candidate, the tussle for the presidency has already gained traction in the South-West, where Governor Fayemi hails from.
Sometimes in March this year, a renowned historian and Second Republic senator, Professor Banji Akintoye had given a hint to the presidential ambition of the governor. Speaking during a colloquium marking the 110th posthumous birthday of the sage and former premier of the defunct Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in Ado-Ekiti, the world-renowned historian had declared that Fayemi has what it takes to lead the country.
Delivering a paper, titled New Engagements by Progressives, Professor Akintoye said the people of Ekiti could become leaders on the African Continent by “investing in the knowledge economy, using our education advantage.” He added that Fayemi has the right ideas which are similar to that of Chief Awolowo.
While stating that the 2023 presidency was not just about pushing for a Yoruba man, he said it was high time Ekiti people took the lead because, according to him, Nigeria needs the values of hard work, excellence and integrity, which he said Ekiti people are known for. Akintoye equally called on Governor Fayemi to rise to the task ahead, stressing that Ekiti people must not let themselves “be intimidated by what exists” but push for “what is right.”
According to him, “Decent people of Ekiti should take the lead and help reposition the nation. I want to say that in 2023, we Ekiti want to aspire for what we have never aspired for. We want to produce the next president of Nigeria. We know that it takes the Ekiti character to rebuild Nigeria. Kayode [Fayemi] has the right ideas. He knows what to do in the management of our affairs. We must have the tenacity to push for what we think is right. We should not let ourselves be intimidated by what exists.”
Political observers opined that the open declaration by the elder statesman might be instructive, if the activities of Governor Fayemi in the last few months are anything to go by. From the North to the East, down to the South, even outside the shores of the country, the governor has been on the move, putting up appearances at different events and engagements. Many averred that these renewed social activities are part of the strategies deployed by Fayemi to be more visible and not to be seen as an apostle of ethnic politics.
The governor’s activities in the state also pointed to the fact that he is looking towards something ‘bigger’ and higher’, come 2023. Apart from being the chairman of the governors in the country, a position that gives him reasons to attend events outside the state, his yet-to-be declared presidential ambition has also taken him outside the state more often in the last 12 months.
A source close to the governor, who did not want his name mentioned, said he could not confirm or deny the speculated presidential ambition of Governor Fayemi. He however towed the same path as Professor Akintoye as he told the Nigerian Tribune that Fayemi was eminently qualified to seek for the highest political office in the land.
He said the governor had neither declared his ambition, nor told anyone about his plans after leaving office in 2023, adding that his main focus was about giving Ekiti State the dividends of democracy with people-oriented programmes across all the nooks and crannies of the state.
“I cannot say the governor is contesting for president in 2023 because he has not told us but he is qualified if he eventually chooses to join the race. His traveling outside the state is just for the development of the state and the country. I don’t think anything is bad in that and more importantly, governance has not stopped in the state,” he said.