John Olukayode Fayemi, is a Nigerian politician who is currently serving as the Governor of Ekiti State, in office since 16 October 2018. He previously served in office between 2010 and 2014 before losing re-election to Ayodele Fayose. He was also the Minister of Solid Minerals Development in President Muhammadu Buhari's cabinet from 11 November 2018 to 30 May 2018, when he resigned to contest for a second time as Governor of Ekiti State.
Early life
John Olukayode Fayemi was born on 9 February 1965 a Yoruba native of Isan-Ekiti in Oye Local Government of Ekiti State.
From 1985 to 1986, he was a Lecturer at the Nigeria-Police Training College in Sokoto. From 1987 to 1989 he was a Research Officer at Development & Management Consultants in Ikeja. From 1991 to 1993 he was a Research Officer at the African Research and Information Bureau in London. In 1992, he was a Tutorial Fellow at the War Studies Department at Kings College, London. From 1993 to 1995, he was the Strategy Development Adviser of Deptford City Challenge in London. From 1995 to 1997, he was the Secretary General of the Media Empowerment for Africa in London. He was also a journalist with The Guardian and City Tempo; and the Editor of Nigeria-Now, a defunct political monthly magazine. In 1997, Fayemi returned to Nigeria where he established the Centre for Democracy & Development, a research and training institution dedicated to the study and promotion of democratic development, peace-building and human security in Africa, where he served as Director from 1997 to 2006. Kayode Fayemi has lectured in Africa, Europe, the Americas and Asia. He has also served as an adviser on transitional justice, regional integration, constitutionalism, security sector reform and civil-military relations issues to various governments, inter-governmental institutions and development agencies. He was the main technical adviser to Nigeria’s The Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission, which investigated past abuses and served on the Presidential Implementation Committees on Security Sector Reform, NEPAD and the Millennium Development Goals. He was technical expert to the Economic Community of West African States on small arms and light weapons and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa on governance issues. At other times he has served as a consultant to the OECD on Security Sector Reform and chaired the CommonwealthHuman Rights Initiative’s Committee of Experts on developing guiding principles and mechanisms of constitution making in Commonwealth Africa.
Elections
In 2007, Fayemi made his entry into politics by contesting for Governor of Ekiti State. After three and a half years fighting through the legal system, on 15 October 2010 the appeal court sitting in Kwara state declared Fayemi the duly elected Governor of Ekiti State, and marked the end of Olusegun Oni's administration as the then Governor of the state. Daily Trust, a national daily, captured the electoral journey in its editorial, published on Friday, 22 October 2010 under the title, Closure to Ekiti 2007 Governorship Saga.
Governor of Ekiti State
In April 2014, Fayemi was endorsed as the governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress in the state's gubernatorial elections slated for 21 June 2014. The emergence of Fayemi was preceded by congress held before the governor who had no contestant was endorsed as the flag bearers of their state in the governorship elections. Kayode Fayemi was defeated at the polls on 21 June 2014 by previous governor Ayodele Fayose. Fayemi recontested for second term as Ekiti state governor under the platform of the All Progressive Congress in the 14 July, 2018 governorship election after resigning as the Minister of Solid Minerals Development. He was officially declared as the winner of the Governorship election in Ekiti state by the Independent National Electoral Commission on 15 July 2018. He won by 19,345 votes against the Peoples Democratic Party's Kolapo Olusola Eleka who was second. In October 2018, Fayemi was sworn in as Ekiti State governor for the second time. Fayemi was elected Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. This announcement was made by the immediate past chairman, Abdulaziz Yari on Wednesday evening. He said Fayemi was unanimously elected by the governors to lead the forum till 2021.
Corruption
The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission in 2016 investigated Fayemi's tenure as Governor of Ekiti State from 2010 to 2014, for an alleged misappropriation of over N25 billion infrastructure bond by his government. In July 2020, he was accused of "financial impropriety" relating to the Ajaokuta Steel Mill during his tenure as Minister of Solid Minerals from 2015 to 2018.
He was also a Visiting Professor in the African Studies Programme at Northwestern University, Evanston, USA in 2004.
Dr Fayemi serves on numerous Boards including the Governing Board of the Open Society Justice Institute, Baobab for Women’s Human Rights, African Security Sector Network, and on the Advisory Board of the Global Facilitation Network on Security Sector Reform and on the Management Culture Board of the ECOWAS.
Fayemi has written on governance and democratization, civil-military relations and security sector issues in Africa. Among his recent books are: Deepening the Culture of Constitutionalism: The Role of Regional Institutions in Constitutional Development in Africa, Security Sector Governance in Africa: A Handbook and Out of the Shadows: Exile and the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in Nigeria.
