…Finger Makinde, Olafeso
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State has vowed to vehemently reject any attempt to scuttle the outcome of the governorship primary that produced Dr Wole Oluyede as the flag bearer of the party for the gubernatorial election slated for June next year in the state.
The party specifically suspected Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde and former governorship candidate of the party in Ondo state, Eddy Olafeso, of attempting to scuttle the outcome of the primary in favour of a contender.
The PDP further alleged that the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) is behind the sinister motive, saying that the APC is jittery because of Oluyede ‘s political clout.
They therefore called on the party leader to be impartial as respected party men in the interest of their supporters and the state at large.
The party stated this on Monday during a press conference at the PDP secretariat, Ajilosun, Ado-Ekiti.
A PDP Chieftain, Honourable Deji Ogunsakin, who spoke in the presence of other party leaders, regretted the series of efforts of the party, which he said were truncated by some political elements.
He said, “We thank God for the success of our gubernatorial primaries that took place on Saturday.
” We appreciated our leader in the Southwest, Governor Seyi Makinde and our National Chairman for a job well done.
“Early hours of today, we got some conflicting news and information about moves from different angles, from certain individuals who are trying to disrupt and destroy our party.
“We believe they are working for the enemies of PDP, we believe they are working for the opposition, and we believe they want to destroy PDP.
“Now, when this journey started, Senator Nnigi, a man who has served for more than 19 years in the National Assembly, came to conduct a free ad hoc delegate congress in the State.
“He did a good job. Certain individuals went behind to scuttle that move. A job that was well done. An election that took place creditably well. They went, they used certain means to overturn some of the results.
” Our leader, Governor Seyi Makinde, was the one who recommended Senator Nnigi to conduct the election. Senator Ningi, a reputable Nigerian, a seasoned politician, came to conduct the election in the State
“We were shocked. We were shocked that certain individuals went behind to disturb that process. Certain results of local governments were changed. Entirely. A couple of places were changed
“Nevertheless, our people protested. The leadership and nation upheld the appeal. We told people to calm down. We have to respect the leadership of our party. Their decision remains final.
“So that we can move forward, and must have a candidate. Again, another reputable Nigerian. A former Attorney General of the Federation, a two-time governor, and a current senator, Governor-Senator Dakwanbo, came to the State to conduct our primaries, with absolutely no violence at all. There were issues on whether the delegates who are disputed should be allowed to vote or not.
“Eventually, the delegates voted. And the process went on peacefully, well, credible. There was no crisis. The election was concluded, and the results were announced by Governor Dakwanbo.
” We have chosen our candidate. We have looked at all the candidates. And we have chosen the man that we feel can give us victory at the general elections.
“We gave him our support. Despite all the manipulations. Despite the fact that a lot of people who are not supposed to be delegates, they manipulated for him.
” So we told our people, don’t worry. The will of God will be done. Eventually, the will of God was done. The people voted. They voted according to their conscience. They voted for the man they believed in.
” They voted for the man they believe can give us victory at the polls. Funny enough, we got calls around 5 am, 6 am this morning, that they are trying to overturn the results in favour of somebody who was not accepted by the polls.
“That has never, ever happened in PDP. We have never seen that. We have worked so hard to unite this party in the state.
” We have been betrayed for so long. A lot of damage has been done to this party. We have worked hard, we have spent our money, spent our energy, all our efforts.
“The leaders have come together. We worked so hard to bring the leaders together. To bring this party together.
” The vision must not be coming from individuals whom we regard as our leaders in the South West. Dr Eddie Olofeso did a good job. He is our leader.
“We love him so much. He was the chairman of the reconciliation committee in the state, and he did a good job on our ward congress, local congress, and state congress.
” We are happy he was able to manage the crisis. Today, we are hearing that he is probably the one behind it. Because we know the kind of person he is. We don’t believe he can do a thing like that. We put calls across to him. And he has denied any involvement in it.
“Some people talked about Governor Makinde being involved. He knows we respect him so much.
” That’s why, when the aspirants went to him. They asked for a level playing ground. We do not want anybody to interfere in the affairs of the PDP. He might have his preferred candidate.
“But he should allow us to choose whoever will represent us at the polls. And he promised that. And he has done that. He brought Senator Ningi for us. Senator Ningi did a good job. They tried to rubbish him.
” He brought Senator Dakwanbo as well. They are trying to rubbish him as well. We are saying, enough! We do not want this trial. We do not want a crisis in the PDP.
“We have chosen our candidate. We have elected our candidate. And our candidate is Dr Wole Oluyede.
” He is our candidate. And there is no Jupiter that can change that. The people of every state, we have spoken.
“We have chosen our governorship candidate. Because we are the ones who will vote for the candidate. We are the ones who will do the job at the general elections. So, the interference from actors outside our state should be minimal.
” There is nothing more you can do. A candidate has emerged. We must move forward. We are in the process of reconciling all the factions. All the followers of every aspirant.So that we can come together to work for the party.
Please. We are appealing. It is an appeal. To our leader in the South West. He (Makinde) knows he has our full backing. We are supporting him to succeed as a leader. We have never gone against his instructions.
“But on this one. That’s our mandate. That’s the choice of the people. We will not allow anything to tamper with our choice.
” We will not allow anything to disrupt the progress we have decided to achieve in the Ekiti PDP. We will not allow anything to set us backwards. We have decided to move forward. We will not go backwards. We have decided to win this
” Nothing can change it. We do not want anybody to sell us cheaply to APC. APC is aware that we will defeat them. APC is aware that we have chosen a credible candidate. That can win the election for us.
“Any attempt to destroy this chance for us in the PDP. We will not take it lightly, ” Ogunsakin said.
Other PDP leaders who spoke included former speaker Ekiti House of Assembly, Pastor Kola Oluwawole declared that the party chieftains spoke on behalf of the downtrodden. They urged Makinde and Olafeso to never allow their names to be dragged into the mud.
