Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose conducts himself like a “typical armed robber” and has a leadership style that is “at mamaput level”, Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has said.

He made the remarks on Tuesday at the APC mega rally in Ekiti, which was held in preparation for the governorship election slated for Saturday.

“Governor Fayose has been trying to divert attention,” he said. “He has abused everybody. He abused INEC, he abused Police, he abused everybody, and he is behaving like a typical armed robber.

“You know, some seasoned robbers, they will go and rob. When they see the police, they will say joo wa wa wa, awon robbers kan wan ni beyen o, e te te salo, e te te salo [please come, there are some robbers over there. Quickly flee from this place].

“He diverts the attention of the police and so that he can escape. But, bad news for him, because he never learnt the act of electioneering campaign, and he has no credible message, he has had to resort to very very primitive tactics.”

He alleged that, to frustrate the rally, Fayose unlawfully instructed shops in the state not to open and drivers not to work.

“Is that within his powers,” asked Oshiomhole, to which the crowd chorused ‘no!’

“Why should he shut down the economy of Ekiti state?” he continued. “He has even succeeded in manipulating the leaders of road transport, and paid them to come and park their vehicles in the government house, so that you cannot mobilise yourselves to this stadium.”

“I say this boy, he’s a poor student of struggle. When men and women are determined to enforce a change, nothing―absolutely nothing―can stop a determined people. The fighting spirit of the Ekiti people will overwhelm any obstacle created by man; and the President is extremely proud that you have all defied all those obstacles and you are here, and it defines what you will do on Saturday.

“I understand he has called some workers to bring their PVC. He will mark them saying he wants to monitor how they vote. The truth is you will go freely and nothing will happen. And any worker, any student, any vice chancellor, any rector who is demoted by Fayose, Fayemi will promote them. Whoever he dismisses, Fayemi will reinstate. Everything he fails to do, Fayemi will do.

“So I ask you to remember, and this is no flattery: across Nigeria, the state with the lowest out-of-school population. So your indigenes are the most educated, and therefore you are more educated than the man who is trying to manipulate you. Remember that a people cannot grow faster than the intellectual capacity of its [sic] leadership. When your leadership is at mamaput level, the state will grow to mamaput level.”

In his address, the ruling party chairman also suggested that Kolapo Olusola, the PDP flag bearer in Ekiti, does not have any book or academic journals written by him. He checked the library, he said, but was unable to find books he may have authored.

He said: “I understand the one they are bringing, they said he is a professor. So I went to the library and I was looking for any of the books that he may have written, because to be a professor you are supposed to have published a lot of materials. I wanted to read any of the books written by this professor so that I can gauge how his mind works.

“But then, when I couldn’t find, I asked the librarian, this candidate who wants to contest with Dr Fayemi, where are his published works, I want to see his PhD thesis so that I can evaluate it and it will give me a window into his heart. There is none. I say none. Se ti iwo o ba ko iwe, bawo ni iwo se je professor [if you did not write a book, how then did you become a professor]?”

He urged the people present at the rally to use their permanent voters’ cards to “whip PDP out of office”, after asking those with their cards to indicate with a raise of hand.

Also present at the rally were President Muhammadu Buhari; Bola Tinubu; Adebisi Akande, former governor of Osun state; Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo state; Olusegun Osoba, former governor of Ogun state; Rauf Aregbesola, governor of Osun state; Abiola Ajimobi, governor of Oyo state; among others.