Ekiti Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Monday branded the N3.3bn worth
Governor’s Lodge built by the ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi as ill-conceived
project and a misplaced priority.
The governor said the building was too expensive for the state to maintain considering the level of poverty in the state.
He spoke while administering oaths on the newly appointed Secretary to
the State Government, Dr Mrs Modupe Alade and other Special Assistants
in Ado Ekiti.
Fayose berated Fayemi for spending such amount of
money on a building when the masses were facing serious hardship and
challenge of abject poverty.
He said : “My heart nearly failed me
when I got to the new Government lodge on Thursday . The mansion cost
N3.3 billion . It was initially awarded for N2.3 billion and later
increased to N2.7 billion, while a sum of N640 million was used to
procure fittings and furniture.
“And this building will cost a
sum of N150m maintenance annually. Ekiti cannot sustain this and we have
to do something about it . How can a Governor be living in such house
when the masses are living in abject poverty?, he asked .
The
Governor also assured that his administration would ensure strict
compliance to 35 percent Affirmative Action for women in government in
consonance with the Beijing Declaration of 1993.
He said that
the appointment of Alade underscored the enormous respect he had for the
women, pledging that his government would protect them and allot more
appointments and elective positions to them during the 2015 State and
Federal Legislative polls.
He declared, “let me tell the men here
who are politicians to know that some of them will be asked to step
down for women in the election next year.
“I want to assure you
that those that will step down have nothing to lose, we are going to
reward you accordingly. But if you disobey us, we will still go ahead to
do it, as long as what we are pursuing is in the interest of Ekiti
people,” Fayose posited.
The governor promised that his
government will reward loyalty and hardwork, particularly for
politicians and those in the civil service to promote the culture of
brotherliness in Ekiti.
Fayose said he was desirous of
streamlining his government to a sizeable form, particularly the civil
service to reduce cost, adding that he would pursue the restructuring
with the fear of God.
“There is no point having 39 Permanent
Secretaries, whose Running Grants we won’t be able to pay. I want to
maintain a sizeable number of political and top government
functionaries, I mean the one we can sustain. But whatever we are going
to do we have human face,” he declared .
Fayose urged the
political appointees to be patient with him in view of the parlous State
of the Government’s finances, advising them to desist from embarrassing
him with text messages to solicit for appointments.
“Some have
started disturbing me with text messages telling me to appoint them
this or that, you have to stop this. When the time comes, your own
appointment will come.
“You don’t need to tell me the kind of
appointment I will give you. I may even give you something better than
what you are requesting for or you may not get appointment at all.”
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