I challenge anyone to bring an invoice of the N50 million bed I was accused of buying — Fayemi

Former governor of Ekiti State, and ministerial nominee, Kayode Fayemi has challenged anyone to produce an invoice of 50 million naira bed he was accused of buying in the state house during his tenure.

It can be recalled that Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, last year accused his predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, of spending N50m on beds in his and his wife’s bedrooms in the newly built Ekiti State Government House.



The statement also claimed that Fayemi N100 million on the two bedrooms, toilets and bathrooms in the state house while he was Ekiti governor.

The statement titled “N3.3bn new Government House Is Fayemi’s Show of Wickedness To Ekiti People,” was signed by his Special Assistant on Information and Social Media, Mr. Lere Olayinka.

According to the statement, no progressive-minded Ekiti person would see the “out-of-this-world luxury” provided with over N3.3bn borrowed funds for Fayemi, his wife and children and will not weep for the state and its people.

It claimed that the bed on which Fayemi slept before he left government was N30m while that of his wife was over N20m.

“How can a responsible government use borrowed funds to provide this kind of luxury for the governor and his family alone in a state where a lot of people cannot afford to feed more than once in a day?

“People should ask the former governor what was really wrong with the abandoned governor’s lodge used by his (Fayemi) predecessors?

“Shouldn’t such funds expended on the hilltop edifice have been used to resuscitate the moribund textile factory in Ado-Ekiti that was turned to lock-up shops to provide employment for our teeming youths?
“Also, was Fayemi living in that manner of opulence before he became governor? Was he sleeping on a body-massaging bed and bathing in an electric-controlled Jacuzzi?

“Here is Fayemi, who could not pay workers salaries, owing them two-month salaries before he left. A Fayemi, who out of sheer wickedness refused to pay pensioners N2.4bn pension and gratuities; N400m workers leave bonus, N700m subventions to parastatals and tertiary institutions and remit N2.4bn four months’ cooperative society’s deductions from workers salaries preferring to use N3.3bn borrowed funds to provide luxury for himself, his wife and children alone.

“This is wickedness!’’

The statement quoted Fayose as being alarmed at the waste of Ekiti resources to provide comfort for a single family out of the thousands of households in the state.

However during Tuesday's ministerial screening, Dr. Kayode Fayemi challenged anybody to provide an invoice of the N50 Million bed he was accused to buying.

”I challenge anyone to bring an invoice of a bed in the state house that is worth N50m. I did not spend irresponsibly on it. It is probably one of the cheapest state houses in Nigeria. I used my relationship to raise a lot of funds with institutions like the World bank, DFID etc. There is no country that does not borrow. I did not borrow to pay salaries.” he said.