Ex-governor of Ekiti State, Segun Oni can now enjoy the benefits of a former number one citizen of the state courtesy the incumbent helmsman of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose.
In a statement issued on Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, CPS, Idowu Adelusi, Fayose expressed appreciation to the contributions of past leaders of the state.
“Governor Ayo Fayose is restoring all the privileges of former Governor Segun Oni. His portrait among those who have led the state that was removed from the Governor’s Office by former governor Kayode Fayemi has been returned,” the statement said.
“The Fayose administration appreciates the contributions of those who have led the state in the past and would not in anyway rubbish such. We are ready to acknowledge all and would not because of political differences rubbish what people have done in the past,” the statement added.
The immediate past governor of the state, Kayode Fayemi, stripped off the privileges of Oni and Fayose.
The Ekiti State House of Assembly, under Fayemi’s administration, passed a bill to stop the payment of entitlements to both former governors.
Fayemi had argued that Fayose did not complete his tenure and was not entitled to entitlement as former governor, while he claimed Oni’s administration was not duly recognised by law since he was removed from office by the court, which ushered him (Fayemi) as governor of the state.
“It was the Fayemi administration that even stopped their financial entitlements when it made the House of Assembly to pass a bill that Oni and Fayose were not due for such.
“The excuse they gave was that Fayose did not complete his tenure and Oni’s tenure was unknown to law because the court removed him from office,” Adelusi disclosed in the statement.
Adelusi expressed the readiness of the governor to provide a leadership that would eventually rank him among statesmen in Ekiti.
He revealed that all those who served under Oni would also be affected by the development.
