The Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the former governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayo Fayose, lacked the moral right to complain about the leadership of the party in the South West.
According to a report by the Nigerian Tribune, the party spoke against the backdrop of media reports that Fayose on Wednesday warned the Oyo State Governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, to steer clear of the leadership of the party in Ekiti and other South-West states.
A statement issued in Abeokuta on Thursday by the Chairman of the party in Ogun State, Hon. Samson Bamgbose quoted him as saying that it was an irony of fate that Fayose, who refused to allow legally-recognised Ogun State PDP exco to function since 2016 could be complaining of interference.
“We are surprised that Mr Fayose could be talking of the need to allow some persons to complete their terms and run the party in their states, whereas he is the master of impunity and meddlesomeness. He is the brain behind the impostors that he has been associating within Ogun State. He has been supporting them against the Rule of Law since his days as governor of Ekiti State. He truncated the tenure of the South West Zonal Exco as well as that of Prof. Wale Oladipo and the late Alhaji Fatai Adeyanju as National Secretary and National Auditor. He ran the party like his personal business when he was the only PDP governor in the South West.”
The statement reads further, “We have been following Mr Fayose’s forlorn dream to be the imperial leader of the PDP in the South West in spite of the fact that he is not the only former governor of the PDP in the zone.
“We do not know what he stands to gain in undermining notable leaders and elders of the PDP in the South West, especially the Governor of Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde, who God has chosen to be the new leader of the PDP in the South West.
“It is high time Mr Fayose woke up from his dream and faced the reality that his time has passed and a new leader has emerged, and we must genuinely accept Engr. Makinde without any dispute as to the one who has been anointed by the Almighty God to lead us in the South West PDP at this point in time.
“When Mr Fayose held sway as the Governor of Ekiti State, he never allowed anyone to challenge him. He bamboozled and suppressed everyone as governor even when we had the more experienced and mature Dr Olusegun Mimiko as governor of Ondo State.”
The party appealed to notable leaders and elders of the PDP like Chief Bode George, Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun, Senator Abiodun Olujinmi and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, among others, to rally round Makinde to take PDP to greater heights.
“Mr Fayose takes delight in betraying his friends because of his selfish interest. After our beloved leader, the late Senator Buruji Kashamu supported him to emerge as the Governor of Ekiti State in 2014, he betrayed him and nearly drove him out of the PDP. He worked against the PDP and Senator Olujinmi’s re-election but God disappointed him. We would have thought that that would have taught him a lesson. But no, he continues with his unbridled arrogance and bloated ego,” the party added.
It urged the governors and other national leaders of the PDP “to call Mr Fayose to order before he plunges the PDP in the South West into another round of avoidable crisis because of his unbridled ambition and an insatiable hunger for power.”
