Governor Fayose asked the question in a statement released today by his media aide, Lere Olayinka. APC members in Ekiti state had earlier accused him of being one of the sponsors of the outlawed secessionist group, IPOB. Senate President Bukola Saraki, released a statement earlier today in which he stated that the proscription of the activities of IPOB by the Defence Headquarters and the South East governors forum is unconstitutional. Read here. Fayose asked members of the ruling party if they would also accuse Saraki of sponsoring IPOB members just because he condemned the ban on IPOB activities. Read the statement below

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has described those saying that he was the one sponsoring the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as people who have put themselves in political bondage and have allowed what they will eat to becloud their sense of normal reasoning, declaring that no amount of blackmail will stop him from expressing his mind against the All Progressives Congress (APC) government’s disrespect for the constitutional rights of Nigerians.

Governor Fayose, who said he was not surprised that the APC in Ekiti State raised the ridiculous allegation, added that the same APC people took side with Fulani herdsmen when they killed people in Oke-Ako, Ekiti State and destroyed farmlands worth several millions of naira in the State.

Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said he was not among those Nigerians that can be cowed by anyone, asking; “Now that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki has come out to openly say that categorization of IPOB as a ‘terrorist organisation’ by the military is unconstitutional, is the APC also going to accuse him of sponsoring IPOB?”

The governor said he was not unaware that Ekiti State could be the main target of the ‘operation crocodile smile’ that the army said will commence in the Southwest and South South, asking what security threat was being witnessed in the Southwest to warrant a major military operation.
Governor Fayose said; “It is on record that on June 10, 2013, it was widely reported in the media that the current Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who was the National Publicity Secretary of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) said that the proscription of Boko Haram was against the constitution, that it stifled the press and tampered with the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.
“It is also on record that in June 2013, President Buhari told the Federal Government to stop the clampdown of Boko Haram insurgents, accusing the government of killing and destroying houses belonging to Boko Haram members while the Niger Delta militants were given special treatment.
“Should we now say that Lai Mohammed and President Buhari sponsored Boko Haram because they spoke against the federal government’s clampdown on the insurgents then?”
The governor, who likened the militarization of Nigeria, being witnessed now to 1984 when President Muhammadu Buhari was military Head of State, said “killing unarmed Nigerians in the Southeast or anywhere in the country, just because some people are agitating is wrong and I wonder why none of our so called human rights activists is talking now.

“Herdsmen have sacked a whole community in this country, they killed over 1,000 Agatus in Benue State and have destroyed people’s farmlands across the country, has any of the herdsmen been arrested? Has any conceited effort been made by the federal government to curb the menace of the Fulani herdsmen?

“If because I spoke against the wanton killings carried out by the military in the Southeast, the APC is saying that I’m funding IPOB, was I the one funding the people of Southern Kaduna when I condemned the killings there?

“Was I funding the Agatus in Benue State when I condemned their killings by Fulani herdsmen? Was I funding the Shiite Muslims when I condemned the killings of El-Zakzaky followers in Zaria and his continued detention?

“Mine is a mission for a Nigeria where no one will be treated like a second class citizen and we can only achieve that if we have leaders that will not be a champion of nepotism like President Buhari.”