A faction of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State has chided the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, for mocking the immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, with his trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a statement by the factional State Publicity Secretary of the party, Raphael Adeyanju, the PDP advised ‘the Oyo State Governor to display maturity expected from somebody occupying his exalted office and rise above childishness and pettiness.
The party said: “It is rather unfortunate that someone like Governor Makinde, who was never a stable member of the PDP could use EFCC trial to mock Fayose, who was one of the last men standing for the party after it lost power in 2015. We would have ignored his display of political childishness and pettiness, but by choosing to go gutter with his mockery of Fayose, who is only being persecuted for standing firmly by the PDP in its hours of troubles, Engr Seyi Makinde has shown to the public that one can be a governor and still not be a leader.”
The opposition party reaffirmed Fayose as the leader of the party in southwest geo-political zone, alleging that Makinde was agent of All Progressive Congress causing destabilizing in the southwest chapter.
“It is not written in the party constitution that when a zone has only one governor, that governor automatically becomes the leader of the party. We hereby challenge him to swear that two All Progressives Congress (APC) governors in the South-West did not support his election.
“It is an open secret that one certain Ayo Adegbite, an aide of one of the governors was intercepted by soldiers when he brought cash to Ibadan in a government vehicle for him (Makinde).”
The party also alleged that Makinde was behind the preponderance of lawsuits against the party in both Ekiti and Osun states to please his paymasters as a payback for the support he got during his election.
He said: “As at 2015 that PDP lost power, Makinde was in Social Democratic Party (SDP). If committed leaders like Fayose, who stood by the party, had left for other parties as he (Makinde) did, the governorship ticket of the PDP wouldn’t have been attractive to him when he returned to the party in 2018.
“That Governor Makinde now goes about mocking Fayose because of his trial by the EFCC, occasioned by his uncompromising stance against the misrule of the APC government shows that he (Makinde) is happy that Fayose and other leaders of the PDP are being persecuted with EFCC trials by the APC government.
“Isn’t it even instructive that the governor has failed in all the national assignments he undertook for the party? Is this not a sign that he has never been truly committed to the PDP?”
The party counselled the governor to address the crisis in Oyo State PDP, rather than acting like a man who is running after cockroaches in another person’s house while his own house is infested with termites.
It pointed out that “if there is a State where urgent reconciliation is needed among PDP leaders, it is Oyo State where even the Deputy Governor, Rauf Olaniyan is complaining openly against the governor.”
“That someone is a governor does not translate to leadership. And by descending to the childish arena of mocking Fayose, who exhibited the rare courage and boldness of surrendering himself to the EFCC, it shows that those PDP leaders in Oyo State who have rejected his leadership were right after all.
“We will however wait till he finishes his tenure and see whether he will also be bold enough like Fayose, to report himself to be investigated by the anti-corruption agencies should he be invited for questioning.”