Despite a public show of conciliation between Governor Ayodele Fayose and a former Secretary of the Ekiti State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party, Tope Aluko, there appears more trouble ahead of a rather bumpy road as Mr. Aluko denied reconciling with Fayose. He claimed he acted under duress when he addressed the press that all is now well between him and the governor.
Last Sunday both Fayose and Aluko held hands, embraced and jointly addressed the media, saying they have decided to sheathe their sword and move forward. While Governor Fayose called Aluko “my son”, Aluko described the Governor as a peace-lover and father of all. That was at the VIP section of Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, on Sunday.
But barely 48 hours after all that drama, both men it appears, may have returned to the trenches.
Trouble started last year when Aluko alleged that Fayose, with support from former President Goodluck Jonathan and the military, rigged the governorship election in Ekiti State which returned him to office.
But on Tuesday, Mr. Aluko shocked the media when he said he has not reconciled with Governor Fayose, claiming that the event was stage-managed by Fayose and some PDP chieftains to look like a reconciliation.
His words: “I received a call from two senior members of the party. One of them is a serving senator and the other is a former governor. I was told to come to the Eko Hotel to meet with them and I went in company of my wife.
“We were halfway into the discussion, which they tagged as a ‘Peace parley’. It should be noted that no reference was made to the 2014 (Ekiti) governorship election and the aftermath, including my revelation to the public about the way the election was rigged in favour of Ayo Fayose.
“I was shocked to see Governor Fayose walk into the meeting at this point. I won’t want to bore you with the drama and the face-off that ensued between me and Governor Fayose at the meeting.
“It is worthy of note that it was at this point that my wife barged into the meeting to inform me that she noticed the presence of pressmen downstairs, saying, ‘there is a problem’, but Fayose interrupted her and said, ‘Madam, there is no problem’.
Aluko said all the allegations about how President Jonathan helped Fayose to rig the election remain valid.
“My wife insisted and said she overheard them saying that they were called back through an SMS from Governor Fayose, saying ‘come back because T. K. Aluko is around’.
“At that point, I became enraged and decided to leave the place but I noticed Governor Fayose rushing after me downstairs in a Gestapo manner. My wife was already fidgeting and was almost crying, and suddenly, I could not find her around me.
“Immediately, I realised that I needed to obey Governor Fayose’s instruction of facing the press because of the safety of my family.
“One fact remains clear, at no time did I, Temitope Aluko, refute anything I had earlier said before Nigerians and the whole world about the manipulations that characterised the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State.
“You will also notice the several counter allegations by Fayose and his media team that none of them has refuted all I have said, rather, the attack has been on the messenger and not the message.
“I will like to apologise to all Nigerians that, perhaps, accepting the invitation was a tactical error.
“However, I wouldn’t have accepted to attend the meeting in the first place if I had known that Ayo Fayose would be in attendance. I only chose to attend in order to honour the party leaders’ invitation.
“Finally, I need to emphasise that all that transpired at the Eko Hotel on that fateful day was an organised propaganda to stain my image and malign my integrity.”
