Nigerian socialite Isaac Fayose has publicly criticised his elder brother, former Ekiti State governor Ayodele Fayose, over remarks he made concerning the recent abduction in Oyo State. The incident occurred on Friday morning, May 15, 2026, when armed men stormed a secondary school and two primary schools in the Ahoro Esinele community, Oriire district, according to officials and the Christian Association of Nigeria, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Ayodele Fayose, in a video statement, suggested that the Oyo abduction might have been politically orchestrated. He argued that governors should be held accountable as chief security officers of their states, noting that security votes and local structures exist to protect citizens. He said, "Before you get to the president in the hierarchy of leadership and governor, there is local government, there are states. States have security votes; they have people that are supposed to be working, they have Amotekun, they have all sorts of names. When you ask governors now, they will say we are not chief security officers. That is incorrect. I want to say to you, I have a strong belief, I may be wrong, that this sometimes can be orchestrated. The governor of your state had his nomination in the face of abduction. He did not take any action; no steps were taken. It was after all those nominations that he went to the family to visit them. It is sad. I can sometimes believe that this was orchestrated in a way, I’m not saying totally, by the government of your state to black papers at the time."
Isaac Fayose, however, strongly disagreed with his brother’s position. In a fiery response, he accused Ayodele of hypocrisy, pointing out that kidnappings had also occurred in Ekiti State under his watch. He said, "Four weeks ago, five weeks ago, they kidnapped people in my own state, Ekiti State. And you are supporting the governor there. Why don’t you tell the governor of Ekiti that you are collecting security votes? Why can’t you protect Ekiti people, my brother? Why? People are looking at you like, what is this man turning to, my brother, for crying out loud? How? Governors in APC states like Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, Niger, Kwara, they pocket their security votes. My brother, please, if you don’t have anything to say, please stay quiet like any other former governor. It is not by force to be relevant. People in Ekiti were kidnapped, and because your ‘boy’ that you are supporting has been pocketing the security vote, that’s why. My brother, fear God, fear God, fear God."
In his caption, he wrote, "My brother shame dey shame me. Abeg hear my brother." The clash between the Fayose brothers has drawn attention online. Reactions from social media users include comments such as: "Nigeria belongs to all of us; may peace, progress, and prosperity return," "This guy de always hold his elder brother for neck, baba no leave ur bro neck abeg, you’re doing well," "Or the other way round since Seyi Makinde is going against Tinubu. Either ways I no trust both party... both Tinubu and Seyi. #bringourchildrenback #stopusing ourlifetoplaypolitics," "Mr Fayose let your brother speak please. Don’t silent him because his views doesn’t align with yours. He’s a former governor and he’s talking from experience," "God bless you, sir for always standing on truth," "How siblings turned out to be opposite of each other. God bless you bro," and "This is the only toroba man that I respect in all yoroba land."
Isaac Fayose has also previously supported Alex Otti in Abia state politics, warning the people not to allow the "Egyptians they saw before" to return, as he took a swipe at former governors of the state.
