The Chief Press Secretary to the Ekiti State governor, Idowu Adelusi, has disclosed exclusively to Premium Times that Governor Ayo Fayose, never said he would commit suicide if President Muhammadu Buhari returned to Nigeria alive.
It had been reported that the “I will commit suicide” statement credited to Fayose, made the rounds in the social media on July 22, but was vehemently denied by the governor.
The governor, a vocal critic of the president and his party, the APC, was quoted as saying, “I will commit suicide if Buhari comes back alive.”
Adelusi said on Monday that the statement making the rounds online and alleged that the governor would commit suicide if the president came back alive from London, as a “creation of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the state.”
“Mr. Fayose never said he would commit suicide if the President returns to the country. It is the creation of the APC. It is their style to create such falsehood,” he said, adding that the governor had wished the president well and had joined others in praying for him.
While celebrating the arrival of President Buhari at a rally in Ado-Ekiti on Monday, the APC highlighted the alleged vow by Fayose to commit suicide if the President returned to the country.
Meanwhile, Fayose’s media aides had blamed the rumour on the handiwork of the Buhari propaganda machinery. The Governor's Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, had in his reaction, same day the quote emerged, debunked the statement.
“Kindly disregard this statement, as it did not emanate from Governor Fayose. It is their usual way of shifting the people’s attention from the real question Nigerians are asking, as to the whereabouts of the President. At no time was such statement made by the governor,” he had said.
