Friendship gone sour: Ayo Fayose VS Buruji Kashamu

WALE ELEGBEDE writes on how the bond between Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and Senator Buruji Kashamu, came crashing less than two years after it was consummated

  Whilst it is true that in politics there is no permanent friend or enemy but permanent interest; there are, however, some stories of friends turned foes, which makes people to recoil in shock over their separation.

One of the classic examples of such bewilderment is the current parting of ways between Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose and the senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly, Senator BurujiKashamu.

Two years ago, the duo were the epic definition of political ally who watched each other’s back against perceived or imagined enemies; and they made no pretense about it. For the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State, which Fayose won in an overwhelming manner by defeating the then incumbent, Dr Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the duo struck a common bond, strategised together and they got an uncommon result at the June 21, 2014 poll.

After a successful outing in Ekiti, the two new political leaders in the South-West Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), moved from the zonal level to the national level. But the political romance has crumbled within two years.

The once jolly friends, who even publicly ate yam flour (Amala) together in the Ekiti State capital, have gone their separate ways, a development that has made many tongues to waggle over what could have been responsible for the breakup.

In the beginning

After the untimely exit of Fayose as governor during his first term in 2006, the various efforts of the former governor to bounce back politically met a brick wall. For example, at a time he moved to the Labour Party (LP) to contest for a senatorial seat but he lost out at the election because many of his kinsmen reasoned that he frittered away the opportunity he got as governor in 2003. But with the 2014 governorship election approaching, Fayose went back to the drawing table, rejigged his plan and retraced his steps back to his former party – PDP.

Of course, with former President Olusegun Obasanjo out of the picture as the unquestionable leader of the party, it was easy for him to return to the PDP. Looking around for those who can buy into his ambition of returning to the Ekiti Government House, Fayose wasted no time in pitching his tents with Kashamu, who at the time was the Chairman, PDP Mobilization and Contacts Committee in the South-West.

With Obasanjo out of the party’s equation in the zone, Kashamu, with his financial war chest had become the rallying point of the party in all of the six states of the zone. Prior to his collaboration with Kashamu, some political bookmakers considered Fayose as having an outside chance of picking the party’s ticket for the governorship race owing to factors like his past antecedents, alleged character flaws, vocal nature and of course, unfavourable zoning criteria.

According to a chieftain of the party who was privy to how Fayose emerged as PDP candidate at the primary election, which electoral panel was headed by a former Rivers State governor, Dr. Peter Odili, then President Goodluck Jonathan, ab initio did not want Fayose as the party’s candidate but preferred one his cabinet ministers.

His words: “The emergence of Fayose as PDP candidate did not come as easy as people thought it was. Even Jonathan did not want him, especially when he knew what had transpired during his first term in office as governor of Ekiti State.

“I can tell you that Jonathan’s anointed for that poll ab initio was former minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade. That was why the minister resigned from the cabinet to join the race.

However, with the influence of Kashamu and some other PDP chieftains in the zone, Jonathan was prevailed upon through the former National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and the former First Lady, Patience Jonathan, to queue behind Fayose.

“You know that was when the rhythm of ‘game changer’ pervaded the PDP corridor, the expresident reluctantly caved in. Of course, with the financial backing of Kashamu, Fayose was able to win the primaries as that man rolled his structure behind him.

Even the behind-the-scene moves by some aspirants like Olubolade, Dayo Adeyeye and others, didn’t materialize.” Perhaps the landslide victory of Fayose at the PDP primaries were he secured 462 of the 477 votes cast, rekindled his confidence in Kashamu as a worthy ally.

Hence, they moved as twins, hobnobbed and hatched plans for the elections. In fact, it was allegedly reported then that Kashamu bankrolled his ‘friends’ campaign to the tune of billions of naira.

“The financial and moral support Kashamu gave to Fayose in the build-up to the Ekiti governorship election made him (Fayose) to perceive Kashamu as a demigod, and in the process so many things exchanged hands, including top secrets. To think that the two could be at daggers drawn is quite unimaginable,” a source said.

Fighting common enemies

Aside the fact that Fayose and Kashamu had a common enemy in Obasanjo, the duo, while the going was good brushed aside some other common political enemies. For the likes of Olubolade, Adeyeye, Aluko, among others, the combine effort of Fayose and Kashamu was too hot for them to handle in the PDP’s primary and of course they let go. Fayemi was also at the receiving end of the Kashamu/Fayose onslaught. Despite being a sitting governor, the duo alongside others plotted his shocking defeat.

The then incumbent governor even lost in his own local government area. On the zonal front, the understanding between the duo empowered them to remove and install zonal executives at will.

One of the victims of such action was former PDP Zonal Vice Chairman, Chief Ishola Filani. And when in 2015, the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) laid siege at Kashamu’s Lekki, Lagos residence for days over claims that he is wanted for in the United States for alleged drug offences, Fayose like a true friend, Fayose, came out to defend his ally, warning the agency against any form extradition of his friend.

He glowingly described Kashamu as a “great Yoruba son and patriotic Nigerian” whose extradition would have “dire implication on the relationship between Yoruba people and the incoming Buhari Government.”

Interestingly, he accused former President Obasanjo for being “the brain behind the attempted kidnap of a great Nigerian by a foreign government.” Also, the duo also kept a hardline against some chieftains of the party in the zone, especially before the 2015 general elections.

It was alleged that the duo silently supported former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro’s bid to become the party’s governorship candidate in Lagos State as against Chief Bode George’s choice.

Moments of hostilities

According to those in the know, the crisis between Fayose and Kashamu had been on and off but they kept it sealed to because they knew the implication of opening the roof over their heads. It was gathered that the first friction between them occurred just after the March 22, 2014 governorship primary election of the PDP in Ekiti State.

Though not confirmed, it was learnt that Buruji bankrolled the primary election because Fayose’s pocket was not deep enough to fund the election. It was alleged that after Fayose’s emergence as the PDP candidate, financial support started pouring in for him and Buruji was said to have demanded part of the refund of the aid he gave to Fayose, but the latter refused to accede to the demand, insisting that the terms of their agreement was repayment after the governorship election and not before.

But speaking to a national newspaper on similar issue, Kashamu’s aide, Augustine Oniyokor said: “While it is true that Senator Buruji Kashamu supported PDP candidates, including the Ekiti State governor, as a true party man, I’m not aware of the financial implications.”

At another point, the two PDP chieftains went daggers drawn over the status of the party’s Zonal Executive Committee chairman, Chief Filani. The former vice chairman who has been a rubber stamp ally of Kashamu was sacked from office without any premonition of such.

It was gathered that Fayose mooted the idea of the removal of Filani but Kashamu opposed the move, saying that Filani had worked with leaders of the party across the region as the caretaker committee chairman following series of legal battles, which culminated in the sack of the executive headed by Chief Segun Oni, elected in the 2012 zonal congress; and thus should be allowed to become the substantive chairman of the party at the 2014 zonal congress.

After a period of disagreement, Fayose ensured that his ally backed down on retaining Filani, and he eventually pushed the chairman of the party in his state, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, to fill the slot.

Whilst it is no secret that Kashamu is at variance with Fayose’s style of attacking President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC, his various nudges to his friend even in the public glare didn’t stop him from pouring venom on the ruling party and its leaders.

Speaking with newsmen in an interview recently, Kashamu said his former ally is only playing to the gallery, using the frenzy of the media. He added that he should, as a governor, exhaust all reasonable channels to make his opinions known before going public.

His words: “Governor Fayose should endeavour to be a good student of history and take his learning from what happened to him in 2006. He did claim he was a changed and matured person when he was seeking re-election.

The jury is out as to whether he has changed or not. You cannot be doing something the same way and expect a different result. “If the good and humane people of Ekiti State have shown him love and returned him to office, the least he can do is to reciprocate their kind gesture by giving them quality governance and effective representation; being confrontational will be detrimental to their fortunes at the end of the day.

“The energy dissipated on playing to gallery and acting like a thug and tout that is obsessed with the bashing of the Federal Government and President Buhari as if it is an official policy of the state government will consequently slowpoke the progress and prosperity of the good people of the state. For, as it is said, when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”

Curiously, the series of attacks against him by his ex-ally did not get any response from Fayose. For many political analysts, the silence of a naturally outspoken Fayose to Kashamu, speaks volume and there is more than meets the eye on it.

On the party front, the duo were said to have briefly reconciled their differences when the race for the PDP national chairmanship began. At the initial stage, both like before, decided to pitch tent behind the former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.

While the honeymoon lasted, they whipped those against their choice with words, and even castigated elders of the party in the South-West for opposing their choice. But in a sudden volte face, Fayose backed out of the pro-Sheriff support and left his ‘friend’ alone in the cold.

The governor joined his other colleagues to support former Governor Ahmed Makarfi to manage the party for three months instead of the self-succession plan initially mooted by the once jolly friends. From then, Kashamu and Fayose stayed apart like water and oil.

The last straw that broke the camel’s back

Reacting to the freezing of his Zenith Bank account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Fayose accused President Buhari’s wife, Aisha, of being indicted in the infamous Halliburton scandal.

Fayose’s account with the bank was freezed by the EFCC after the anti-graft agency claimed that it traced N1.3 billion to it from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) under former President Jonathan.

Fayose told newsmen in Ado- Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital that “even the President cannot claim to be an angel. The estate he built in Abuja is known to us. His wife was indicted over the Halliburton Scandal.

When that American, Jefferson, was being sentenced, the President’s wife was mentioned as having wired $170,000 to Jefferson. Her name was on page 25 of the sentencing of Jefferson. We can serialize the judgment for people to see and read.”

But urging his ‘friend’ to stop chasing shadows and leave the President’s wife out of his travails, Kashamu in a statement likened Fayose’s attempt to link Mrs. Buhari to the Halliburton scandal as a needless distraction and an amateurish shadow-boxing.

“Fayose must stop chasing shadows and address the allegations against him. It is preposterous that he suddenly remembered that someone was involved in the Halliburton scandal at exactly the same time that he is being investigated over the funds he allegedly collected from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA),” he said.

Interestingly, for the umpteenth time, Fayose refused to react to Kashamu’s scolding.

Reasons for conflict

Three major reasons can be adduced for the strange turn around between the once envied friends and allies. First, the battle for the control of the South-West PDP is responsible for the story of betrayal and mistrust between the duo.

While it was alleged that Fayose wanted to cripple Kashamu’s grip on the party in the zone because he has his eyes on the party’s vice presidential slot in 2019, it is also argued in some quarters that the Ogun East senator wanted to consolidate his hold on the zone since he has been an active player in the course of what happens in the PDP over the past 10 years.

A source said: “Fayose is clearly out to undo Kashamu’s influence in the South-West and that was why he plotted to have the likes of Prof. Wale Oladipo and Alhaji Fatai Adeyanju replaced as the zone’s representatives in the National Working Committee of the party.

He is being ungrateful because these are the guys who stood for him amidst the various offers they were presented with by some other Ekiti PDP governorship aspirants in 2014. If he succeeds, I can tell you that Kashamu will be decimated in 2019 because those are his guys.” Secondly, the divergent views of the duo on President Buhari’s performance and his party, has pitched the two.

While Fayose takes on the government and its policies at will, Kashamu sees things from another prism. In fact, it was gathered that any time the Ekiti governor attacks the presidency; the Ogun East senator makes effort to call him to order and exercise patience with the government.

However, those loyal to Fayose believe that Kashamu is on the governor’s neck to stop castigating the President and his party because he wants a soft-landing over an alleged drug offence in the United States and that he is playing safe to be in the good books of the APC-led government.

Thirdly, an alleged unfulfilled ‘settlement plan’ is said to be another reason why the once bosom buddies are now acting like cat and mouse. It was gathered that a terms of agreement was reached on how to reinburse the financial support Kashamu gave to Fayose before and during the 2014 governorship election, but it was alleged that the governor don’t want to hear any of it from the PDP chieftain as he usually complains that Ekiti has no money.

Obasanjo laughs last?

No doubt, the political background and rise of both Fayose and Kashamu, have their roots from former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The former Army General Singlehandedly nurtured both of them. Interestingly, the same Obasanjo dealt with them and cut them to size at different times.

For Fayose, who Obasanjo used to chase former governor Niyi Adebayo out of office in 2003, he had the biggest cut from the former president’s double-edged sword as he was impeached in the third year of his administration following irreconcilable differences with his former godfather.

Till date, there is no love lost between both Fayose and Obasanjo. The entrance of Kashamu into Ogun State politics during the second term of Obasanjo, changed the face of politics in the Gateway State.

With the support of Obasanjo from Abuja and his deep pocket through the Omo Ilu Foundation, Kashamu was able to decimate and even pushed out a sitting governor, Gbenga Daniel, from the PDP. Obasanjo, it was believed, used Kashamu to prosecute his battle against Daniel and when it was time to field a governorship candidate for the 2011 general elections in the state, the Owu chief gleefully brought out his associate, Gen. Adetunji Olurin (rtd) and asked Kashamu to roll the party structure behind him.

However, the marriage of convenience between Obasanjo and Kashamu couldn’t weather the storm for too long as under some unexplainable manner, hostility set in and they both decided to part ways in a vile manner.

With the political dimes of both Obasanjo’s men flipping already, perhaps the Owu chief is sitting comfortably at his Otta farms, sipping wine to laugh off the activities of his ex-foot soldiers.