At least, 15 top leaders of the ruling All Progressive Congress, (APC), in Ekiti state, have written to the new national leadership of the party, the Caretaker Committee, headed by Mai Mala Buni, to stop alleged excesses of Governor Kayode Fayemi.
Prominent among the aggrieved petitioners, are former Senate Spokesperson and Minister of Works, Senator Adedayo Adeyeye and Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs, Senator Babafemi Ojudu.
The statement was signed by 15 APC leaders in Ado Ekiti, on Sunday.
Other prominent APC leaders that signed the statement were Senator Tony Adeniyi; former House of Representatives members, Oyetunde Ojo, Bimbo Daramola and Robinson Ajiboye, as well as former Ekiti State Assembly Speaker, Adewale Omirin.
They asked the party’s national Caretaker Committee, to stop Fayemi’s alleged dictatorship and hijack of the party in the state.
They also accused the Governor of influencing party executives to alienate as well as victimise critics of his government.
But their accusations were swiftly dismissed as untrue by the party leadership in the state, which said the allegations levelled against the Governor were both malicious and concocted.
The aggrieved leaders had called on the just inaugurated Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Committee of the party to quickly put an end, to the alleged use of party machinery to punish members through illegal suspension and ostracization from party activities .
The concerned leaders also expressed fears that the party might suffer defeat in the next governorship election in 2022, with the alleged existing cleavages and underperformance of the Fayemi-led government .
In the statement entitled, ‘Time to Take a Stand’, the leaders applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for spearheading the dissolution of the National Working Committee and the inauguration of the Governor Buni Caretaker committee to bring some calmness into the party.
They listed Senators Adeniyi and Ojudu, Bimbo Daramola, Oyetunde Ojo, Bunmi Ogunleye, Ben Oguntuase, Dele Afolabi and Diran Fadipe as among those that had either been “unjustly” suspended, allegedly, on the orders of Fayemi, or at various stages of suspension in their respective wards.
The petitioners said: “This development has informed the need to bring to the attention of the newly constituted committee our concerns about the unfortunate drift of our party in Ekiti State. Prior to now, we had communicated the situation to the dissolved NWC.
“As this new body sets about resetting the future of our party, it has become imperative to acquaint the leadership with developments in Ekiti State. The time has come to bring to the fore the developments in the state and the political realities in our party”.
The leaders posited that the victory they recorded in the Ekiti 2018 governorship election was not solely through the Governor’s efforts, rather by all party people who worked so hard to achieve the feat.
They advocated the immediate dissolution of the APC state executives across all strata, saying their lists were allegedly compiled through undemocratic means by the duo of the the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Chief Niyi Adebayo, who is also from the state, and Governor Fayemi.
“This travesty was committed deliberately to completely ostracise people from party activities and today, that is what has become the rule rather than the exception.
“In almost two years, the party has not convened any political meeting of stakeholders, no new membership drive , no political activity whatsoever to rev up and consolidate the place and presence of the party in the state. Instead of growth, the membership of the party is dwindling by the day.
“Today, any member who expresses a contrary view is seen as a dissident that must be harassed and intimidated, notwithstanding the status, stature, profile , reputation and above all contributions of such person
“The State, Local Government and Ward executives, who see the Governor as their benefactor capitulate under such threats of removal and denial of patronage to carry out the marching orders to suspend party members without recourse to the constitution.
“This is just to please their masters, except in Senator Babafemi Ojudu’s Ward where the chairman stood his ground and refused to oblige such a perfidious request”, they added.
But while reacting, on behalf of the governor and the party, the APC State Publicity Secretary, Mr Ade Ajayi, asked the aggrieved members to rather reexamine themselves, saying Fayemi was not meddling in the party’s operations, as alleged.
Ajayi said: “They are only engaging in blackmail, because they know that those suspended took the party to court and it is expulsion if the law is to be followed to the letter.
“We enjoy the freedom to run the party without Governor Fayemi’s interference, as is being insinuated. But it is sad that Senators Ojudu, Adeniyi, Adeyeye and former Reps like Ojo and Daramola who were abusing Fayemi, all owe their election to the National Assembly, to the governor’s support.
“They should reexamine themselves and see where they got it wrong. Let them tell us one ward where Governor Fayemi teleguided the executives to suspend anyone? These are mere blackmail”, he posited.
Also on the accusation of underperformance leveled against Fayemi, Ajayi retorted: “They are strangers in Ekiti, because they have not been coming home for a long time. If they come around, they will see what our government has done, and Ekiti people are happy with him”.
