Ekiti: Governorship candidates as PDP’s albatross July 27, 2013by Femi Makinde 1 Comment FEMI MAKINDEwrites on the crisis threatening to tear the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State apart over its plan to select a governorshipcandidate for the 2014 poll The Peoples Democratic Party in EkitiState is going through a serious crisis over the consensus arrangement proposed by the national leadership of the party to select its governorship candidate for the 2014 election. President Goodluck Jonathan and other leadersof the party had envisaged that subjecting the hordes of aspirants on the platform of the party to a primary election would drain their resources and leave them exhausted by the time the real election would be conducted. The President, according to some leaders of the PDP, who favour the consensus deal, had also wanted to prevent acrimony, which normally surrounds primaries and had suggested that the PDP in Ekiti and Osun states opt for the seeming less divisive methodof selecting the flag bearers of the party in the two states. The party appears serious about returning to power in the South-Western states, from where it was swept away in the 2011 general election. Jonathan, who was supported in 2011 by the electorate in the Action Congress of Nigeria-controlled states, is aware that he might not bethat lucky in 2015 because of the determination of the newly formed All Progressives Congress to wrest power from him, hence the renewedeffort by the PDP to return to regain control of the South-West. Ekiti State, which will hold its governorship poll in 2014, is expected to be used as a launch pad for the PDP’s bid to, again, spread itsumbrella over the South-West. Following the consensus advice given to the party in the state, a galeof endorsements of the aspirants enveloped the party as those aspiring to pick the sole ticket of the party organised series of gatherings to woo their supporters. This, analysts say, is a way of portraying the aspirants, even the weakest among them, as very strong politically before the leadership of the party in Abuja, who are believed to be relevant in the process to selectthe party’s candidate. Some of the aspirants who were beaten to the ploy also organised their own endorsements and claimed that they were not aware that stakeholders within the party arrived at a decision to endorse someone as the only candidate, who could win back the state for the PDP. The consensus deal was initially thought to be a way of picking the party’s candidate from the Ekiti South Senatorial District, which is yetto produce a governor in the state since the return to democracy in 1999. But the entry of the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (retd.) into the governorship race in the state changed the perception of many, who thought that the President might have an interest in the minister, who is one of his closest aides. But Olubolade, who is known for his peaceful disposition towards issues, said he would abide by whatever the leadership of the partydecides on the issue of the party’s candidate while urging all stakeholders in the state to unite in the party’s effort to win back the state. Hours before Olubolade disclosed his governorship ambition in an interview with journalists at his residence in Ipoti Ekiti, the Chairmanof the PDP in Ekiti State, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe, issued a statement to announce the constitution of an 11-man ConsensusScreening Committee, headed by Justice Edward Ojuolape (retd.). Members of the committee include aformer member of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Dayo Okondo; the state Vice-Chairman, North, Mr. Olatunde Olatunde; Modupe Johnson, Kola Lawal, and a former Acting Governor of the state, Mr. Tope Ademiluyi. Other members of the committee are a former Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr. Kola Adefemi; Mr. Adeusi Kumuyi; a former member of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Titilayo Akindahunsi; Mr. Dele Ajibolaand Mr. Omolade Gabson. Immediately the list was released, former Governor Ayo Fayose kicked against the move, describing the constitution of the committee as a ploy to favour one of the aspirants. Fayose, who is a governorship aspirant on the platform of the PDP, tasked the party to ensure that a free and fair primary election was conducted to select the party’s candidate. He said that he did not need to beg any aspirant to join him provided such person was defeated in a credible primary election. He, however, threatened that he would not work for any candidate imposed on the party. Fayose’s rejection of the consensus arrangement stemmed from the fear that the party might want to deliberately pick its candidate from the Ekiti South Senatorial District, which has six local government areas out of the 16 councils in the state. The other two districts share the 10 LGAs equally and they have had shots at the governorship seat twice each. The former governor was bold enough to reject the consensus and everybody knows that he is anti-consensus. However, some aspirants are not pleased with this but they don’t want to be seen as opposing the President, who is the overall leader of the party in the country. Fayose said, “I am sure that in the mind of the President, he does not want a process shrouded in secrecy and compromised. It is obvious that some individuals are taking an advantage of this advice to cause mischief and disaffection in the party for personal gains, which will be resisted. It is clear by the composition of the committee that there is a clear agenda. “I hereby reject the 11-man committee and I will not appear before it or have anything to do withwhatever decision they reach because some of them are known supporters of the aspirants and a free and fair selection cannot be guaranteed under the committee.” Some of the automatic delegates in the PDP, including former chairmen of the party across the 16 local government areas, had also supported the position of the formergovernor that the best option for theparty was to conduct primaries. The chairman of the Forum of Former PDP Chairmen in Local Government Areas, Chief Diran Adeleye, and Secretary, Mr. Taelolu Otitoju, likened the consensus arrangement to imposition, which the PDP has been criticising in other political parties. The ex-chairmen insisted on exercising their constitutional rights as automatic delegates in free and fair primaries. They cautioned the chairman againstcausing avoidable problems in the PDP, while insisting that the people of the state must be allowed to select who would govern them. While supporting the consensus proposal, nine aspirants from the Ekiti South Senatorial District are stillasking the party to look at the zone to pick the consensus candidate. Former Deputy Governor, Mr. Abiodun Aluko, who was Fayose’s deputy, as well as Mr. Bisi Omoyeni, who was also appointed by Fayose to be his deputy although for a brief period, were among the nine aspirants who are against Fayose. The nine aspirants issued a communiqué to state their support for the arrangement. Other aspirantswho signed the communiqué were Senator Gbenga Aluko, Dayo Adeyeye, Ropo Ogunbolude, Bimbo Owolabi, Senator Bode Olowoporoku, Adekunle Folayan and Mr. Femi Bamisile. Aspirants from Ekiti North and Ekiti Central, who have also publicly pledged their support for the consensus, include Chief Peter Obafemi, Chief Reuben Famuyibo and Prof. Adesegun Ojo. The crisis triggered by the consensusdeal escalated on July 16 when hoodlums invaded the secretariat of the PDP and injured former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Kola Adefemi, among other leaders including two journalists, who were at the secretariat for a press briefing. Some of the members of the executive signed a statement to announce the suspension of the party chairman for alleged financial impropriety and acting beyond his bound. The State Working Committee asked the Deputy Chairman, Mr. Femi Bamisile, to take over as the acting chairman but Bamisile refused. Ogundipe, after eight days of his suspension, appeared and announced the indefinite suspensionof Fayose at a press conference he addressed in company with his deputy. The chairman also suspended the state Secretary of the party, Dr. Tope Aluko; the Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Oluwawole and the Woman Leader, Mrs. Busola Oyebode. The four were among the SWC members, who signed in favour of Ogundipe’s suspension. Fayose had described his suspension by the chairman as a joke and likened it with a suspension of the party from the state. But unconfirmed rumours say Fayose may dump the PDP for the Accord Party or may decide to stay and frustrate the party’s attempt to oust the ACN government in the state. The suspended publicity secretary ofthe party, Oluwawole, alleged that the chairman was biased and was working to favour a particular aspirant. He said, “We have collected non-refundable deposits from these aspirants and we assured them of a level playing field. They have gone tothe field but now you want to use consensus. What criteria are you going to use to pick the only candidate which will be fair to all of them? “Let there be a free and fair primary election, that is what we are saying, but the suspended chairman (Ogundipe) has taken a side. Six of the screening committee members he constituted are loyalists of a particular aspirant. He commissioned his deputy to inaugurate the rejected consensus screening committee and that was why some aggrieved party membersswooped on the secretariat and attacked us.” However, a former deputy governor, Aluko, said he had no cause to doubt Ogundipe for now because membersof the consensus committee are persons of integrity, who had servedthe party faithfully in the past. Aluko who is one of the nine aspirants from Ekiti South said, “How do you fault a process which isjust about to take off? The consensus arrangement is not a one-stop thing. The Consensus Screening Committee’s work is to draw the template to be used to screen the aspirants. The template will be taken to the SWC, the Elders Forum for approval and the templatewill even be presented before all the aspirants to know how we would bescreened. “As for me, I don’t have a cause to doubt the chairman now and I won’tdoubt him until I have a genuine reason to do so.”
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 07:39:46 +0000
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