Dr. Kayode Fayemi, during his screening for the position of minister on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 debunked reports that he ran the economy of Ekiti down as governor.
Fayemi, who was one of the 10 ministerial nominees who appeared before the Senate on the first day of screening, said he governed Ekiti with transparency and accountability.
The former governor was asked by Senator Olusola Adeyeye (APC, Osun Central) to defend himself against reports to he left Ekiti State in debt by spending “too much” on the Government House in Ado Ekiti.
In defending himself, Fayemi said Ekiti was one of the youngest states in Nigeria and it did not have a government house for 19 years until he became governor. He said he visited the state-of-the-art Government House of Akwa Ibom State built by former Governor Godswill Akpabio on a visit to the Akpabio in Uyo. According to him, he became inspired by what he saw and thought that Ekiti State needed a befitting Government House.
He said that contrary to reports, he built the government house in Ekiti for “just N2.5 billion” and concerning the N50 million bed, none of the beds in the Ekiti Government House cost more than N1.5 million.
