Former
Ekiti State governor Ayodele Fayose has been squealing against the move
of the state leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to
produce a consensus candidate for governorship election. He was at the
party national secretariat, Abuja, recently, he spoke on the visit.
Excerpts:
Why you are here?
l have to thank you for your support and the balancing of your
stories, which is quite commendable. If a man does not do things right,
he should be criticised for not doing well. If leaders are not doing
things right, they should be brought to explain themselves. So, l want
you to hold us – either in office or out of office – accountable.
When l was in office, l was branded all sorts of names. Some would
just want to damage my name. They would call me a killer, murderer,
thief, etc. But we cannot reconcile all these given the fact that seven
years after my questionable exit from office l am still walking on the
streets. Nobody has charged me to court for murder and nobody has
brought me to question for abuse of office. They have turned it to
political tool for reasons best known to them.
But l have taken my own destiny in my hand by being focused. I am a
very clear personality, l don’t play to the gallery. l am not a
contractor, you will never see me doing contracts. I don’t cringe, l say
it as it is.
If you want to cut my head cut it. But l made up my mind l want to be
on the side of the truth. That is why seven years after office my name
is still a nightmare to some people politically.
Governor Kayode Fayemi cannot deny my role in his ascension to
office. It is public knowledge. I did that when l was not in PDP, l
supported him and that is history now. I am back to PDP after a lot of
persuasion by elders of the party about two years ago. l have always
played my role and contributed my quota.
I have declared my ambition. l have made it very clear that l would not accept any process that is not very clear.
It wouldn’t be unacceptable to me. The party preaches fairness,
equity and justice and you cannot hide equity and fairness and get
justice.
l am glad that the national chairman spoke to the team that l came
with that the party would do transparent primaries. He made it very
clear that if you cannot all agree to a consensus, you should all be
ready to face the primaries.
The reason they are worried about me is that they know if we go to
the field 10 times, I will defeat them 10 times. l want to say clearly
that anything short of transparent primaries, l will not accept. That
has been my grouse with the state chairman that is there now.
Our election is eight months away and already you are setting up a
consensus committee to pick a candidate after collecting a
non-refundable N2 million from every aspirant. l said he cannot change
the goal post at the middle of the game.
Makanjuola Ogundipe condemned Fayemi’s adoption by his party in a
press interview. He condemned it stating that, “ACN endorsement of
Fayemi is despotic.” After condemning ACN action, he wants to do the
same thing. It is unacceptable.
Angry party members who realised that he had a hidden agenda and with
some members of the executive wrote and said they did not want
consensus. Seven members of the executive signed out of 14, and that
means they are 50-50 in both sides.
The aspirants should be the ones to decide if they want consensus.
That is the aspirants would be the ones to say we want to surrender our
rights. You cannot tell people to come and pay for tender and you are
the one coming back to tell them the person you will sell the thing to.
It is not possible.
For him (Ogundipe) coming to the national secretariat of the party
with the 11-man consensus committee that he has chosen, in a coaster bus
of the Ministry of Police Affairs. Already they have taken position and
it is unacceptable.
If any minister wants to be governor he should resign, come home and
be known at home. Abuja would not adopt anybody. Abuja has said that to
me and my entourage that they would not adopt any candidate and that
they have no candidate in their mind.
They came to the national chairman with a complaint. He told them
that he was going to look into the matter. The next thing we saw was the
chairman suspending me. It was obvious that he does not take
instructions from the national chairman, he takes instructions from
himself.
If he could solve the problem, why did he come to the national
chairman who told him to be patient? He went to take laws into his hands
by suspending me. I came to the national secretariat to let them see
that it is not good for this party to trample on their own constitution
and to make sure they do not allow this chairman to mess up this party
in Ekiti State.
I am a former governor, he has no moral right and capacity to suspend
me. I don’t want the party to lose in the state that is why l am
raising the alarm not because he can do anything to me.
