I felt like hitting Obasanjo with microphone at my birthday party, I gave him $20,000 – Fayose

Obasanjo and Fayose

Ayo Fayose, ex-governor of Ekiti, says he was so provoked by Olusegun Obasanjo’s remarks at his 65th birthday celebration that he momentarily felt like seizing the microphone from the ex-president and striking him with it.

Fayose spoke in a fresh interview where he narrated the sequence of events leading to his recent birthday celebration.

At the ceremony in Lagos, Obasanjo had reflected on his long-running feud with Fayose, describing the former governor as “not the best” of his political protégés — while acknowledging his political accomplishments. Fayose said 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 explained that he reached out to Obasanjo through a mutual friend, Osita, who provided the former president’s phone number.

Fayose, however, insisted that his call to Obasanjo 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.

He said Obasanjo welcomed him to his home days before the celebration and even assured him that he would attend the event despite another engagement in Rwanda.

He added that at Obasanjo’s request, he arranged money for the former president’s travel logistics.

“We took pictures together. All in good faith,” he said.