Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has disclosed that his wife persuaded him not to publicly criticise the late former President Muhammadu Buhari following his death earlier this month.
Fayose made the remark during an appearance on Politics Today, a current affairs programme aired on Channels Television, on Friday.
According to him, Nigerians have a tendency to glorify deceased public figures regardless of their record while alive.
“The people in Nigeria only praise the dead,” Fayose said. “When President Buhari died, I wanted to come out and abuse him, but my wife called me not to say so.”
PUNCH Online earlier reported that Buhari, who led Nigeria from 2015 to 2023, passed away on July 13 in a hospital in the United Kingdom.
He was buried two days later at his private residence in Daura, Katsina State.
Fayose, a longstanding critic of Buhari’s administration, reiterated that his opinion on the late leader remains unchanged despite his passing.
“Would you say Buhari performed? I am not among those praising the dead,” he stated. “Do not honour me when I die.
When I die, I am gone. When President Buhari was in government, we all know what this country was like. So, nobody should come and tell me that President Bola Tinubu is not doing well.”
Drawing a comparison between Buhari and his successor, President Tinubu, Fayose described the current president as more approachable and open.
“He is accessible. Was the former president accessible?” Fayose asked. “A lot of things were happening in those days but do you still find them in the system? He is not a perfect man but we are not where we were.”
In defense of Tinubu’s administration, the former governor argued that Nigeria’s challenges are too deep rooted to be solved overnight.
“Nigeria is a sick country. It will take heaven to pull it out at once,” he said. “What miracle can anybody do in two years? The situation is critical, wide and deep. Tinubu inherited a very bad economy.”