Ayo Fayose Wins Ekiti PDP Guber Poll..Other Contestants Reject Result

 

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary election for the  June 21 governorship candidate in Ekiti State was held yesterday amidst controversies.

Former governor of the State, Mr Ayo Fayose, emerged victorious with 462 votes, beating Navy Captain Olubolade, Prince Dayo Adeyeye and Mrs Ogundipe for the slot. 13 other contestants pulled out of the exercise, though, claiming it had been skewed by the government in favour of the eventual winner, Fayose.

The chairman of  the party in Ekiti State, Mr Makanjuola Ogundipe and other leaders, shunned the    exercise, while protesting aspirant were tear-gassed by the police.

Delegates at the Great Eagle Hall in Ado Ekiti, where the congress was held, began arriving at the venue at about 9am amid heavy security checks and were accredited, before they were allowed into the hall.

Addressing the delegates, chairman of the five-man delegation from the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP that conducted the voting, Dr Peter Odili, said the primary came about because the leadership of the party wanted transparent process to produce the candidate.

The former Rivers State governor said “the new leadership Alhaji Adamu of the party, have decided to turn it around and position the party for greatness. We are the greatest party in Africa and we have to show this in what we do.”

He announced that there were 544 delegates accredited to vote in the election and listed the aspirants on the party’s record as Ambassador Dare Bejide; Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade; Prince Dayo Adeyeye; Mrs. Cecilia Dada;  Mr. Ayò Fayose, Mr. Bodunde Adeyanju; Mrs. Margaret Ogundipe and Senator Gbenga Aluko.

Others were Chief Abiodun Aluko; Chief Ropo Ogunbolude; Mr. Deji Ajayi, Peter Obafemi; Wale Aribisala.

Following the voting in which former Governor Odili announced that 477 ballot papers were utilised, he announced that Mrs. Ogundipe scored one vote; Olubolade, seven votes; Adeyeye, three votes and Fayose, 462 votes. Four of the votes were voided.

Former senators, House of Representative members and other leaders of the party witnessed the congress, but the chairman of the party in the state, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe, and other leaders of the party shunned the congress.

Fayose grateful, says I’m now a better person
Reacting to his victory, Fayose expressed happiness at the development, saying “I served as a state governor 11 years ago and I want to assure everybody that this is a better Ayò Fayose; more mature, more responsive and one that will accommodate all of them.”

Fayose pleaded with his co-contestants to give him the opportunity, saying “they should not stay behind the fence and throw stones. It is going to be well with this party.”

“The election is winnable and if they join hands with me, it will make it easier. I assure you and promise them before man and God and before the people of Ekiti State that nobody will be victimised, nobody will be fought or oppressed. I am a better person. I understand the game better and I will do the needful with all of them. I will work with them. They should give me the opportunity. All that is important is a win.”

To the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) and Governor Kayode Fayemi, Fayose said “you know who you fear, you know your headache and you know where the shoe pinches. They know who has emerged. They know the difference.

“They know what I stand for and they know that this is the beginning of the end of Fayemi’s administration in Ekiti State. I brought Fayemi to government, I gave him the support and I am the man that will take him out. I will be the man that brought Fayemi and I will be the man that will take him back to where I brought him from, by the grace of God.”

Olubolade, Adeyeye, Bejide, Aluko, others kick, reject primary
Meanwhile, 13 other aspirants in the Ekiti PDP, including Olubolade; Adeyeye, former deputy governor, Chief Aluko, former member of the National Assembly, Senator Aluko and Mrs Ogundipe boycotted the congress and also faulted it.

The aggrieved aspirants, while addressing their supporters at the campaign office of Abiodun Aluko in Ado Ekiti, said the national leadership of the PDP must declare the exercise null and void.

Senator Aluko, who spoke on their behalf, said a number of anomalies trailed the exercise.

According to him, “Fayose is not a bona fide member of the PDP. Legally, he cannot contest the primary and we are in court over that.”

Aluko added that “the ward delegates congress conducted last Wednesday was seriously skewed in favour of Fayose, arguing that in five local governments, including Ikere, Ado, Gboyin, Emure. Ise/Orun and Efon, no congress took place and results were compiled for those areas.

“Apart from that, the other places where the election held, there were electoral malpractices such as snatching of electoral materials. Since July last year, the leadership of the party, including President Goodluck Jonathan have been harping on the need for consensus to avoid acrimony.

“You can see what happened today, it was only Fayose who opposed the consensus method and we are going to see what happens next.”

Police tear gas protesting aspirants
Aspirants of the PDP opposed to the conduct of the primaries besieged the venue of the congress with their supporters before the commencement of the congress , chanting “all we are saying, no more primaries.”

The aspirants who had brought their grievance to the venue in protest included Navy Capt. Olubolade, Senator Aluko, Chief Aluko, Prince Adeyeye and Mrs Ogundipe. The policemen at the venue shot tear gas to disperse them and they ran in different directions, with the former Minister of Police Affairs ferried by policemen into a Toyota Hilux van with registration number FR 845 ABJ.

They had insisted that the ward congresses that produced delegates for Saturday’s primary election were skewed in favour of Fayose, and had called for the cancellation of the processes.