Why I didn’t appoint Tope Aluko as Chief of Staff – Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has said the allegation by the former Ekiti State Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tope Aluko, that the military was used to influence the outcome of the June 21, 2014 governorship election in the state was another ploy in the fruitless efforts by the All Progressives Congress to rubbish the mandate freely given him by the people of the state.

He also said such a wild allegation could only have come from a questionable character like Aluko who he refused to appoint his Chief of Staff because he could not be entrusted with such sensitive position.


He spoke in a broadcast on state television and radio in Ado-Ekiti yesterday.

In a statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, the governor said the election that ushered him to office was conducted about 20 months ago and applauded by the election observers and the international communities, wondered when the opposition would stop licking their wounds.

Fayose said; “All these steps are being taken by the APC to silence me because of my criticism of obnoxious policies of Buhari administration, but I cannot be silenced. If I Ayo Fayose remains the last man standing to put Buhari administration on its toes, I will not look back. Strong opposition is ingredient of virile democracy. I don’t have skeleton in my cupboard. If the APC has any concrete evidence against me, it should give it to the EFCC.”

Fayose added that he felt sorry for Aluko because he had allowed those who rented him to do the very dirty job to destroy him totally, thereby bringing shame upon himself and his family.

The Governor continued, “ It is very obvious that those who rented him will keep him at arms length believing that what he did to me, he will do same to them.

“From Aluko’s rantings, one could see that he wants to poison our waters because he did not get the position he expected in our administration.

He complained that he was not made the Chief of Staff, how could somebody with great lust for money and insatiable drive to jump from one camp to the other be trusted with such a sensitive post. I was advised by well-meaning Ekiti people not to trust him with sensitive positions because of his greed.

“As the state secretary of the party, he was going from one aspirant to the other to collect money, using his position. When he was at the state-owned university, he was sacked because of certificate racketeering. Pressure was mounted on me not to appoint him otherwise he would put cerdibility problem on my administration.”