In a stunning revelation, former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has detailed how he gave former President Olusegun Obasanjo $20,000 for travel logistics, only to be subjected to a scathing and humiliating speech at his own 65th birthday party.
Fayose, who spoke in a recent interview, narrated the sequence of events that led from a planned reconciliation to a renewed hostility, culminating in him sending an insulting text message to the elder statesman just 48 hours after the celebration.
The former governor explained that two weeks before the event, he decided to mend fences with several people he had fallen out with politically. “Whatever differences we have had in the past, let’s put it behind. If I have offended you, if you have offended me, let us put it behind,” he said.
He reached out to Obasanjo through a mutual friend, former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka, who provided the former president’s phone number. Fayose, however, was quick to insist that his call was not an apology. “I never called to go and apologise to Baba. I did not offend him. He was the one that removed me from office. If anybody should apologise, it is him,” he said.
According to Fayose, Obasanjo welcomed him to his home days before the celebration and assured him he would attend the event despite another engagement. It was here that the financial transaction took place. “I changed $20,000 and gave it to him. How can you accept somebody’s money and come and be spiting that person?” Fayose questioned.
The first sign of trouble, he recalled, was when Obasanjo insisted on speaking last at the event, ahead of the Vice-President. “Baba said he would be the one to speak last. I became suspicious,” he said.
This suspicion turned to anger during the party when Obasanjo, after instructing the moderator to call the Vice-President before him, demanded that Fayose and his wife stand beside him as he gave a speech lasting “one hour, 14 minutes,” which Fayose described as laced with veiled attacks.
“How do you say such things to a man on his 65th birthday?” he asked.
Fayose described the moment his anger peaked. “I was enraged. I felt like taking the mic from Obasanjo’s hand and hitting it on his head. This is being sincere,” he narrated. “But to show maturity, not by age, and the love I have for myself and the presence of the vice-president, I just kept my cool.”
Despite his public composure, Fayose’s fury boiled over shortly after. In a ‘Thank You’ text message sent to Obasanjo, he called the former president “very irresponsible” and suggested he “belonged in a zoo.”
Fayose concluded that his attempt to reconcile was made in “good conscience,” but Obasanjo’s behaviour proved he was not interested in peace. “If I knew this was how it would end, what do I need Obasanjo for? Am I contesting the election? Do I need his validation? No,” he said.
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