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With controversy still surrounding the release of an audio tape purportedly detailing how the June 21 governorship election was rigged, Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, has challenged former governor, Kayode Fayemi to go to court to prove that election was rigged.
He also said “the soldiers should come to give evidence and explain where and how they were instructed to rig the election, whether they were instructed to thumb print ballot papers or they were instructed to snatch ballot boxes; how many of such ballot papers they thumb-printed and the number of boxes they snatched.”
Fayose, who on Sunday reacted to an interview Fayemi granted an Akure, Ondo State-based radio station last Thursday, declared that he was ready to meet Fayose and the soldiers he said would testify in favour of the recording, in court
His words:“Fayemi is only playing to the gallery. For those who heard my voice, it was me accusing General Aliyu Momoh of colluding with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to rig the election.
“The problem Fayemi is having is the defeat he suffered in the 16 local governments area of the state. He is yet to recover from the shock and he is fretting over the prospect of going down in political history of Nigeria as the first sitting governor to suffer such monumental defeat.
“The defeat suffered by Fayemi in that election will in no distant future become a case study by political scholars in universities across the country.
“All that Fayemi is trying to do is to rubbish an election adjudged best by local and international observers. I see him simply as a rabble-rouser.
“I used to have respect for him before now, but events after the election have exposed his true colour as a pretender, as he is not a democrat.
“If APC doesn’t win, the election is rigged, but once the victory goes its way, it is the most credible election in the world.
“In 2011, when my defeat was very glaring, just like what we have now, I did not go about disparaging the winner; instead, I went back to prepare for the next election, because in any election, one person must win.
“Fayemi should bury his head in shame for plunging the state into a debt of over N76 billion, which speaks volume about his managerial ability.
“The state is totally bankrupt and I have been running from pillar to post to pay workers’ salaries. Ekiti allocation is now in the hands of creditors who Fayemi took loan from. I left N10.4 billion in the treasury when I left the state in October 2006, but Fayemi brought monumental debt on Ekiti people and he is bragging”.