Ayodele Fayose with his unbeatable records of violence, abuse of office and massive stealing of public funds equally holds yet another unbeatable record in the annals of governance in the country.
When he came in as Governor in 2003, Fayose was sworn in alongside his first Deputy Governor Surveyor Abiodun Aluko from Ikere-Ekiti. With time the relationship between the duo became sour as a result of the continuous disapproval of Fayose’s despotic and undemocratic attitude in governance and especially over the protest of Aluko to the Poultry project scam which was said to have greatly annoyed Fayose who then put in motion series of actions which Aluko himself had in a May, 30, 2005 letter to Obasanjo as President termed ‘’embarrassment and public humiliation in the hands of my Governor, Dr. Peter Ayodele Fayose’’. After a prolonged battle for survival and continuous harassment, embarrassment and humiliation, Surveyor Aluko was impeached in controversial circumstances through blackmail, arm-twisting, inducements of the State lawmakers with N2million each.
Having done away with Aluko, Fayose did not look too far to source for a replacement as he went back to Ikere-Ekiti to pick his second Deputy in person of Bisi Omoyeni, a banker who later became the Managing Director of Wema Bank and who recently lost out to Fayose in the PDP Governorship primary tussle. Bisi Omoyeni’s tenure as Fayose’s Second Deputy Governor never lasted too, as Omoyeni, a gentleman banker could not withstand the crude and uncivilized governance style of Fayose and he quickly threw in the towel to avert his integrity of long years of being stained.
After the exit of Omoyeni, the crisis tailing Fayose started coming to the fore as nemesis seem ready to catch up with Fayose who had greatly soiled his hands with all sorts of criminal acts as Governor as his party at the Federal Government level under former President Obasanjo was beginning to show its displeasure with Fayose who used the poultry project scam to fool Obasanjo himself a farmer. And looking for ways to pacify Obasanjo as a survival strategy and with heavy pressures mounting on him from all quarters Fayose known for his street sense decided to pick Mrs Biodun Olujimi, a member of the House of Representatives, and who is also known to be very close to Obasanjo, as his third Deputy Governor. Her reign as Deputy Governor however ended with Fayose as the reign of terror of Fayose eclipsed with his impeachment on Monday October 16, 2006.
One Governor, Three Deputy Governors, in Three and a half years
