Ayodele Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti state has reacted to the statement made by Afe Babalola (SAN), who opined that previous governors of the state did not do well in office hence the reason for hardship in the state.

Recall that the founder of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), on Monday, said all the past governors who managed the affairs of the state before the incumbent, Biodun Oyebanji, failed to develop it.

Speaking at the commissioning of the multi-system hospital annexe in Odo-Ado, Igirigiri road, Ado Ekiti, Babalola commended Oyebanji for doing a wonderful job so far.

The legal luminary added that the former governors abandoned the vision of those who laboured for the creation of the state.

However, in an interview with Premium Times on Tuesday, Fayose said that contrary to Babalola’s assertion, all past governors of the state did their best and contributed to Ekiti’s development.

However, the former governor said Babalola remained a leader he respects and would never want to join issues on any matter.

Fayose said Babalola himself is trying at everything he is doing, but that he would not finish every good thing he intends to achieve.

He also expressed the belief that Babalola must have been misquoted, adding that the senior lawyer had, in 2018, described him as a patriot not only to Ekiti State and the Yoruba race but also to Nigeria.

He said: “He is our leader, we owe everything to him, we cannot join issues with him, we will continue to respect him. In this case, he must have been misquoted.

“I want to believe he must have been misquoted, Governor Adebayo did his best. Governor Fayemi did his best. I did my best.

“In fact, what Baba said about me in 2018 does not correlate with what you are saying he said about me yesterday.”