Sunday 30 March 2014

Ekiti: Adeyeye dumps consensus candidate, joins Fayose

A former Publicity Secretary of the Afenifere, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, has abandoned his earlier position  on consensus candidacy for the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State by agreeing to work with ex-Governor Ayo Fayose.

Adeyeye, who was one of the 13 agggrieved governorship aspirants of the PDP,  had rejected the result of the primary election which produced Fayose. He described it as a fabricated one.

But in a letter claimed to be  written  to President Goodluck Jonathan and jointly signed by Fayose and Adeyeye, the duo said they had agreed to work together as a team.

The letter was made available to our correspondent via email by Fayose’s media aide, Mr. Idowu Adelusi.

In the letter titled, ‘Letter of agreement and understanding to work together’, Adeyeye agreed to give Fayose a free hand to pick his running mate, while he (Adeyeye) had accepted to pick the ministerial slot of Ekiti State.

However, Adeyeye when contacted said he  could not talk because he was attending a crucial meeting. Also, a text message sent to him was not responded to as of the time  of filing this report.

The letter reads, “We,   Mr. Ayo Fayose and Prince Dayo Adeyeye, who are principal players in the just-concluded PDP primaries have come together to form a common front in the 2014 Ekiti State gubernatorial election.

“As a result, he (Prince Dayo Adeyeye) has agreed to accept Ekiti ministerial appointment at the pleasure of Mr. President.

“I, Ayo Fayose, have no objection and plead with the President to accede to our request and please give same immediate effect to allow both of us move to the field together as a team.

“We also agreed to give Mr. Ayo Fayose free hand to pick his running mate due to its sensitivity, however the person must be from the south senatorial district.

“We will both appreciate an immediate audience with Mr. President and the PDP National Chairman on this and other related matters concerning the 2014 elections.”

It will be recalled that Adeyeye, who is a prince from Ise Ekiti, has been at the forefront of those clamouring that the governorship ticket of the PDP be zoned to Ekiti South which has yet to produce a governor in the state.

His volte face is seen as a blow to the consensus arrangement being clamoured for by the aggrieved aspirants majority of those who are from Ekiti South.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State on Sunday said that it did not recognise Senator Gbenga Aluko as the candidate of the party.

The Ekiti State chapter of the PDP  made this known in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Mr.  Kola Oluwawole.

He described the purported emergence of another consensus candidate in Abuja for the same election as “not only a ruse but an attempt to mislead members of the public.”

Oluwawole said what the group of aspirants did by announcing a candidate of their own was contemptous.

Copyright PUNCH

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