Ayo Fayose: Lame Duck Governor Threading Familiar Path

With the election of Kayode Fayemi as the new governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, the incumbent, is effectively a lame duck governor. On paper, a lame duck is ineffectual and ought to focus on the transition of power to the new administration. But this is Nigeria, and Ayo Fayose is the quintessence of the worst breed of politicians in this part of the world.

A few days after the recent Ekiti gubernatorial elections, Nigeria News reported how Fayose had bragged to the whole world he is going to have the last laugh.

By the way, he was still spotting his classy neck brace, the obvious result of the injuries he sustained after the police targeted him with tear gas canisters. At least, that is the story from him and his handlers.

What he meant by ‘last laugh’ is not simply that the results of the official of the elections would be set aside by the courts and the PDP declared winner, he intends to deploy all the powers at his disposal to make life uncomfortable for the incoming governor.

It is safe to say that, right now, if Fayose is having sleepless nights, it is not about how to make sure the transition to an APC government is seamless. He and his close aides would be thinking about the IEDs they intend to plant in Fayemi’s political path as governor.

The easiest would be to make many controversial executive decisions. These executive orders would be populist in nature and would have the backing of the masses.

However, in practical terms, they would be unsustainable going forward.

Some outgoing governors have been known to arbitrarily increase workers’ salaries, embark on mass employment of people into the state civil service and promote/appoint loyalists to various positions in their respective states’ MDAs.

The beneficiaries of this largesse would cheer the governor on of course. But the incoming government would have to deal with the problem of sustaining those policies.

Because there won’t be enough funds to sustain those executive decisions, the immediate action of a new government would be to cancel them. The masses, of course, would protest the wickedness of the new government.

It doesn’t matter that the previous administration waited until the last minute to go down that route after four years in office. And it doesn’t matter that most of the appointments/promotions were down illegally with no recourse to laid down procedures.

The biggest card Fayose can play though is through the State House of Assembly (HOA). And this is going to work to perfection if the PDP members in the HOA remain loyal to Fayose and the party.

It is a well-trodden path in Ekiti State politics.

When Fayose won the election in 2014, he was up against a HOA completely dominated by the opposition APC. Of the 26-member assembly, only one belonged to the PDP.

From the get-go, the APC-dominated assembly made it impossible for Fayose to work. His appointments were rejected; policies that needed approval by the HOA were thrown out.

Rumours started flying around the House of Assembly would soon start impeachment proceedings against the governor.

Fayose, with the support of the PDP-led government in Abuja, went on the offensive and broke every known law of the land to emasculate the legislative arm.

At the end of months of crisis, 7 PDP lawmakers (six APC members had defected to the PDP; impeached the speaker of Ekiti HOA, Adewale Omirin on the 17th of November 2014; and elected a new speaker, Dele Olugbemi, the same day.

The 19 loyal APC members escaped to Osun State because their lives were in danger from PDP thugs and security agencies.

The months between October 2014 to June 2015 were some of the most fascinating and crisis-ridden periods in recent Ekiti State politics.

The crisis ended after the 2015-elected legislators took over the House of Assembly in June 2015. All of them were PDP members.

So what are the chances that history won’t repeat itself? Fayemi is coming into government with a house dominated by the PDP. Of the 26 members, only 3 belong to Fayemi’s APC.

Would the lawmakers follow Fayose and make life difficult for Fayemi? Would they try and impeach him for whatever reasons they can come up with?

On the other hand, they might elect to defy Fayose and work with the incoming administration.

After all, their political futures could be at stake here as all of them know the APC-led central government can make it impossible for them to win their seats back come the elections next year.

There is still a lot of time between now and October when Fayose hands over to the new government. That is a long time for Fayose to use his aces against Fayemi to ensure he laughs last.

This lame duck governor is a special breed. Interesting times ahead for Ekiti State and Ayo Fayose.