Security has been beefed up in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, ahead of Thursday’sinauguration of Ayo Fayose as the new governor.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, the venue of the ceremony, is now wearing a new look as event planners were sighted on Wednesday putting finishing touches to some structures.
Fayose, who was also seen personally supervising the work done at the stadium, called on civil servants to call off their strike and honour him by attending the ceremony.
NAN reports that civil servants in the state are currently on strike over the non-payment of their July and August salaries by the outgoing Kayode Fayemi administration.
Teachers in public schools also stayed away from their classrooms over nonpayment of salaries.
NAN further reports that many private schools that resumed last week had declared holiday to mark the day.
Armed soldiers, members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as well as officials of the Department of State Security were seen patrolling the major streets of Ado-Ekiti.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Victor Babayemi, pleaded with residents not to be scared over the presence of the security agents.
“It is normal that high profile events such as this will be policed to ensure it is hitch-free,” Babay said.
Meanwhile, Fayemi on Wednesday addressed residents of the state, declaring that he was vacating office a fulfilled man.
Fayemi, in a statewide valedictory broadcast, said he had kept faith with all his electioneering promises.
In his emotion laden address, the outgoing governor said his final day in office did not come as a surprise as he had always expected it and prepared for it.
He described his four-year tenure as “glorious”, saying he used his office to tackle poverty as well as instilled decency in governance.
He said: “As I step away from office, I can say the promises I gave are the promises I kept. I have made Ekiti a much better place than I met it.
“There is time for everything and a season for every purpose under heaven,earthly things are temporary and infinite.
“Governance is a continuum, administrations come and go, our electorate laws do not allow holding office in perpetuity.”
Fayemi, however, called on the Ekiti people to shift from “personality orientation of politics to politics of strong institutions and of enlightened policy”.
He said: “Public office is too serious to be left to the venal and mean.
“I came into politics because I believed committed leadership can provide people the tools that empower them and give them control over their destinies.”
Fayemi, who used the occasion to formally lift the curfew imposed on the state in the wake of recent violence, urged residents to be peaceful and law abiding.
He said he decided to lift the curfew based on the advice by various security agencies that there was now relative peace.
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