A former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, has asked Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti to forget the idea that his actions can force notable citizens of the state out of the party.
Fayose was also accused of reaping where he did not sow by hijacking the structures of the PDP in the state.
Adeyeye was speaking on behalf of some governorship aspirants in the state, who had accused Fayose of sidelining them in the running of the party in the state.
They also kicked against the adoption of Fayose’s deputy, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, by the governor as the PDP governorship candidate for the 2018 election.
Others who have joined Adeyeye to condemn Fayose are a former Nigerian High Commissioner to Canada, Dare Bejide; a former Commissioner for Justice, Owoseni Ajayi; and a senator representing Ekiti-South, Mrs. Abiodun Olujimi.
Speaking at a declaration of the governorship ambition of Olusola in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, Fayose had said that he would not apologise for adopting Olusola.
The governor also said Adeyeye, and other aggrieved PDP aspirants were free to leave the PDP for other political parties.
Fayose had said at the rally, “The PDP has taken a position; I say we have taken a position and we have no apologies for that and the position is that Olusola should take over from me as the governor of Ekiti.
“It doesn’t matter to us how many people that are abusing us by our action. They are even free to join our adversaries, but we will defeat them as God liveth.”
But speaking with The PUNCH correspondent on behalf of others, Adeyeye accused Fayose of hijacking the PDP from the Labour Party where he contested the senatorial election in 2011 and lost.
Rather than leave the PDP for him, Adeyeye said that majority of members of the party in the state would send Fayose away to where he said he came from.
The former minister of state for works said, “It is sad that we have a governor who has no respect for authority and the leadership of the party.
“We are not going to beg him to do the right thing. He has no capacity to send us out of the house we built.
“Where was he when we were building the PDP? If he is so popular as he is claiming, how did he lose the senatorial election in 2011 when he ran on the platform of the Labour Party?
“They did a declaration in Ado-Ekiti on Monday and it was a failure. Fayose knows what he is doing and we are aware of his manipulations. We know why he picked an unpopular person.
“The reason is that, he is working for the opposition and is already negotiating with them. He wants the PDP to lose the election.”
Adeyeye wondered why no member of the opposition had joined the PDP since Fayose became governor.
“If he claims to be popular, why has his actions and his so-called achievements not attract people from the All Progressives Congress and other political parties?” Adeyeye asked.
The former spokesman for the PDP called on the national leadership of the party to conduct what he described as a free and fair governorship primary in the state, saying this was the only way there would not be a crisis.
He assured members of the party in the state and delegates that would elect the party’s governorship candidate, that they should not take the alleged threat by the governor to expel them from the party seriously.
Adeyeye said, “The governor has been bragging and going about with threats that he would expel delegates that do not follow his candidates.
“That will not happen because these are the people that built the party when Fayose joined our detractors and also went to labour in vain in the Labour Party. With or without him, therefore, We will triumph in the state.”