''Fayose is a street-type thug whose political career was sealed last Saturday and is now facing political extinction'' Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has described Ekiti

state governor, Ayo Fayose, as a street-type thug who was made to look like a gadfly by the Nigerian

media.

In an article he published in which he analysed the just concluded Ekiti state governorship election,

Garba Shehu said the election has put a seal on Fayose's political career and that the governor is now

facing political extinction

''As for Mr. Fayose and his morbid brand of politics, it is now his time to reconcile himself to

the imminent political extinction he faces, his political career sealed for good. Newspapers

have mistaken him for a gadfly who creates discomfort for the government at the centre to

make it better, but Fayose is a street-type thug. He never fits the role of a gadfly because he

thrives on bitter enmity. Opposition does not mean a negative view of everything. Neither

does it translate into a licence to abuse your superiors''

He said the Ekiti state election has proven the people's love for the Buhari administration and also

shown that Nigerians will never again vote PDP into office in any capacity. He attributed the success

of the APC in the state election to its National leader, Bola Tinubu. Read the full text of the article

below

Fayose: In The End, A High-Powered Nothing

The people of the politically significant State of Ekiti have spoken against their Governor,

outgoing governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, who told them that the governorship election they

just had was a referendum on President Muhammadu Buhari. He said candidates Kayode

Fayemi and Olusola Eleka were pawns and that he and President Buhari were the actual

contestants.

In what observers said was the most intense, and a most angry campaign, the people gave

their verdict: Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the one-time governor, declared persona-non-grata is now

persona-grata again. President Buhari has won this referendum. The people of the State have

sent a clear message. The politics of brinksmanship, assaults, insults, abuses and Robin

Hoodism disguised as stomach infrastructure has been rejected in favour of politics of

inclusion, development, responsibility and good governance.

President Buhari’s war against corruption and insecurity; the message of agric revolution and

infrastructure development and fidelity in resource allocation and management have struck a

chord with Ekiti voters, who had been lied to and deceived by Governor Fayose. While the

opposition continued to rant at him, President Buhari’s uprightness, coupled with

incorruptibility and personal integrity, unmatched by any politician in the country has again

stood the test of time.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) win in Ekiti means that the Party has control over 25

out of the 36 states of the Federation. The party thus becomes the only one in power in the

six states of the South-West geopolitical zone.

Besides reinforcing the APC’s position as the only standing pole in the political landscape, it

is a credit to the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, against whom all

manner of ethnic and religious opposition is being mounted by former President Obasanjo

and some of the Asiwaju’s sworn enemies in the sub-region.

With this, the political landscape of the South-West has been transformed. APC’s regional

strength has been strengthened and the Asiwaju will be respected even better. Without losing

patience and decorum, the Asiwaju has proved that rivals must reconcile and come to terms

or lose everything.

This win is equally a huge boost to the APC and its new leadership under Chairman Adams

Oshiomole, who got their first baptism of fire in Ekiti. It is, importantly, a big boost to the

second term ambition of President Muhammadu Buhari.

For the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which came second in the election in a state that

they held sway, it is a loss politically and psychologically. The result of the election has

proved that PDP is irreparably broken and dismantled. They have nothing to offer to the

country and its people. The message from Ekiti is that no state in Nigeria will vote PDP.

Never again.

As for Mr. Fayose and his morbid brand of politics, it is now his time to reconcile himself to

the imminent political extinction he faces, his political career sealed for good. Newspapers

have mistaken him for a gadfly who creates discomfort for the government at the centre to

make it better, but Fayose is a street-type thug. He never fits the role of a gadfly because he

thrives on bitter enmity. Opposition does not mean a negative view of everything. Neither

does it translate into a licence to abuse your superiors.

The winner of the election, Governor Fayemi’s trajectory from a persona-non-grata to a

persona-grata again has given a wave of cheer to APC members all over the country. It has

given a fresh hope that fake news, lies and propaganda run only short distances, because

they have short legs.

An old proverb says you can’t beat something with nothing. After all the noise, theatricals

and drama, Fayose’s fall came with a thud, not a bang: a high-powered nothing.