The Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has slammed the state governor, Ayodele Fayose for implementing policies that threaten the development of Ekiti people.

In a statement issued by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, the APC regretted that the governor has been busy distributing bags of one kilogramme of rice to few people in the state instead of promoting policies that would take Ekiti people out of poverty.

According to the party, the timely payment of salaries could help workers do extra works at their spare time to increase their family earnings, adding that the governor had promised to pay workers after the verification exercise.

The APC statement reads in part: “What the governor is doing is stark wickedness to the people by distributing one kilo rice for one-day need of the few out of millions living in abject poverty at the time more purposeful administrators all over the world are setting up self-sustaining schemes that permanently address the poverty problems among the masses.

“Distribution of a ‘congo’ of rice to Ekiti people at this period when he cannot pay salary is a wicked diversion of the people’s attention from real problems that confront them daily and threat to unleashing their entrepreneurial skills for self-sustenance and an attempt to turning elitist people into beggars.

“Is it rice they will use to pay their children’ school fees and other needs? Is the life of an elitist person now permanently reduced to rice alone?”

The party equally accused the governor of failing to address the security situation in the state. This, the party said, had scared away many investors and petty traders, while people who have investments in the state were considering relocating them over insecurity occasioned by kidnappings.

However, Governor Fayose, in his reaction, said the APC does not have the moral grounds to criticise his government because the same party ran the state aground under the four years of Kayode Fayemi’s administration.

In a statement issued by the governor’s Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said it was preferable “to give the people what to eat than spending billions of borrowed funds to build hilltop government house meant for just one family as done by the APC government.”

The governor also asked the APC to mention the benefits derivable from the pavilion, Government House, civic centre and other white elephant projects that the party used borrowed fund to execute.

“Here is a party that used borrowed fund to plant flowers in Ado Ekiti and none of the flowers can be seen anywhere in the state capital talking about our government’s policies not being developmental,” the statement said.