Ekiti PDP petitions Makarfi, rejects alleged imposition

PDP National Chairman, Sen Ahmed Makarfi

The crisis rocking the Ekiti State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party took a new turn yesterday, when some of its members sent a protest letter to its National Caretaker Committee.

It said stakeholders would not accept imposition of candidates as party flag bearer in the forthcoming governorship election in the state. They described as “dance of shame”, the recent adoption of the Deputy Governor of the state, Prof. Olusola Eleka, as the consensus candidate of the party for the election.

A copy of the petition which was made available to Vanguard, rejected Eleka, whose candidature was being spearheaded by Governor Ayodele Fayose. The petition, which was signed by Dr. Seun Adebayo and Mr. Gbenga Babawibe, was titled “Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad”. 

But in a swift reaction, Governor Ayodele Fayose’s Special Assistant, Public Communications and new media, Mr Lere Olayinka, said; ‘’Referring to whatever complaints made by those two signatories as coming from Ekiti State PDP is not only misleading, but a clear impersonation of the party in Ekiti because they are not known organs of the party that can speak for it.

The petition read in part, “We reflect on the import of these statement as we stoically condemn the charade and ill-advised, poorly thought out, dance of shame organised by the outgoing governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, at the Ekiti State Government House on Wednesday September 6, during which he superintended the purported adoption of his Deputy, Olusola Eleka, as the preferred candidate of our great party, the PDP for the 2018 governorship election in our state.

“Much as we reject and condemn this attempt at provoking us to wrath, we rather decide to be more circumspect by taking the noble option of pitying the governor. “We unambiguously, reject the illegal adoption of Eleka as done by Fayose because he does not own the party, but has rather, been a harbinger of disunity and chaos in the Ekiti State Chapter of the PDP.

“We view his decision to cause unnecessary upheaval in the party by the provocative action as a continuation of his desire to sustain the division he caused at the National level when he canvassed and fought like a wounded lion for the enthronement of Ali Modu-Sheriff as the National Chairman of the party, a move that almost brought the party to its knees.”

Fayose aide’s reaction Referring to whatever complaints made by these two men as coming from Ekiti State PDP is not only misleading, but a clear impersonation of the party in Ekiti because there are known organs of the party that can speak for it. This can best be described as two private individuals making complaints, not the PDP in Ekiti State. Even the PDP national leadership cannot deny any member of the party, including Governor Ayodele Fayose the right to have preference for anyone seeking the party’s ticket to contest elections.

Therefore, rather than going about shouting imposition where there’s none, whoever that feels aggrieved on the adoption of the Deputy  Governor, Prof Kolapo Olusola as the preferred aspirant/candidate of the PDP for the 2018 election should rather mobilise his own supporters for the primary election, which will be held in accordance with the party’s rules.(Vanguardngr)