Fayose unveils presidential ambitions for 2019
Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, has said that he was qualified to run for the office of the Vice President in 2019, if it is the will of God.
Fayose, who was reacting to reports that he was billed to be picked as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, running mate to Senator Alimodu Sheriff in the 2019 Presidential election, said Sheriff is the PDP chairman and is going to continue in office, adding that 'if he gives me the Vice President slot, it is a good thing for Ekiti people.
Governor Fayose who spoke during the May edition of 'Meet Your Governor' his monthly media chat, said: 'Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is the PDP chairman and he is going to continue in office. If he gives me the VP slot, it is a good thing for Ekiti people even though, you cannot set out to say you want to be VP.
'But you people should not worry yourself about 2019 because nobody knows who will be alive in 2019 but mentioning my name for VP is good for Ekiti.'
'I am qualified to be VP if it is the will of God. God is taking me to a higher place, how, I don't know,' he affirmed.
Fayose, is known to have influenced the emergence of Ali Modu Sheriff as the national chairman of the PDP.
Meanwhile, the governor has insisted that there is no land for grazing in the state, noting that power to assign land belongs to him.
According to him, the rampaging Fulani herdsmen who have been terrorizing communities in parts of the country would meet their waterloo in Ekiti if they dare attack anyone.
His words: 'If you bring your cow to come and eat up my farmland, I will put Gammalin 20 inside the water that they will drink from. That is what I will do to those destroying our communities and raping our wives.
'I heard that 83 cows have been killed since I made the statement. If you come to Afao and eat up my palm tree, we have set traps for grass cutters and rodents and the trap will catch them.
'There is no land for grazing in Ekiti state. Power to assign land belongs to the governor. Tell them that there is no land for grazing here because it is my right to sign the certificate of occupancy.'
Fayose was apparently reacting to the National Grazing Bill which has purportedly scaled through second reading in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The bill was sponsored by Senator Zainab Kure, Senator representing Niger South Senatorial District.
If passed and signed into law, 'the bill seeks to provide for the establishment of national grazing reserves and stock routes. The Bill proposes to establish a National Grazing Reserve Commission (NGRC) for the country.
'The NGRC will be charged with the responsibility of using funds received from the Federal Government to forcefully acquire farmlands from Nigerians in all the 36 states of the country, develop same at government expense through the provision of bore holes, water reservoirs, etc; for the exclusive use of nomadic cattle rearers.' - Vanguard.