‘My wife warned me’ – what Fayose wanted to say about Buhari after his death

Ayodele Fayose has never been shy about speaking his mind. In fact, the former Ekiti State governor built his political brand on being blunt, and sometimes controversial. But according to him, there was one moment he had to swallow his words and it came after former President Muhammadu Buhari’s death.

Fayose revealed this during an interview on Channels, where he admitted that his first instinct after Buhari passed away on July 13 in London was to go public and “say it as it is.”

Then, his phone rang. It was his wife. His wife warned him not to say a thing or speak ill of the late president.

“The people in Nigeria only praise the dead. When Buhari died, I wanted to come out and abuse him, but my wife called me not to say so,” Fayose confessed.

The former president, who ruled Nigeria from 2015 to 2023, was buried in Daura, Katsina State, two days after his death. While tributes flooded in from politicians across the country, Fayose said he refused to join what he described as Nigeria’s culture of posthumous praise.

“Would you say Buhari performed? I am not among those praising the dead. Don’t honour me when I die. When I die, I’m gone,” he said .

Fayose is well-known critic of Buhari’s administration,  and he did not miss the chance to draw comparisons with current President, Bola Tinubu.

“When Buhari was in government, we all knew what this country was. So, nobody should come and tell me that Tinubu is not doing well. He is accessible. Was the former president accessible?” he asked.

On whether Tinubu can turn things around, Fayose was honest.

“Nigeria is a sick country; it will take heaven to pull it out at once. What miracle can anybody do in two years? The situation is critical, wide and deep. Tinubu inherited a very bad economy,” he added.