Fayose lacks respect for PDP leaders, says Awoyelu

The pioneer Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State, Clement Awoyelu, has accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of being overbearing and lacking respect for the party’s constitution.

He also said the governor lacked respect for party leaders in the state, hence, the need to reclaim the party from him.
Awoyelu, a member of the Board of Trustees of PDP, spoke during the swearing in of the Chief Williams Ajayi-led faction of the State Executive Committee of the party in Ado Ekiti on Thursday.

A Federal High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti had on Tuesday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognise the faction pending the final determination of a suit before it.

It restrained the commission and the PDP national secretariat from relating with the faction loyal to the governor where Gboyega Oguntuase had emerged as the state chairman.

The former Senate Deputy Chief Whip, who claimed he had no personal grudge with Fayose, said reclaiming the party from the governor remained the best option to save the party from imminent destruction.

He said, “I have been in party politics for more than 50 years and that is why we are trying to restructure our party. We will never sleep until we reclaim our party from Governor Fayose. We are ready to correct all the wrongs in our party.”

Fayose, however, dismissed the allegations by Awoyelu, whom he accused of daydreaming.

Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, Fayose said there was no faction in the Ekiti State PDP.

A statement by Adelusi said, “There is no faction in Ekiti PDP. Probably the one Chief Clement Awoyelu is referring to is the belligerent group which hurriedly assembled to conduct a ‘kangaroo’ congress and later approached the court through the backdoor for a ‘kangaroo’ recognition.

“One is surprised that Chief Awoyelu as knowledgeable as he is in politics, will back a congress which by all standard did not meet the necessary requirement. That congress, I can boast, is a nulity and time will tell.

“Saying that the Ekiti PDP will be taken from Governor Ayodele Fayose by the Awoyelu group is a tall dream. It is a wishful thinking. We advised Chief Awoyelu to come back home. He is a respected Ekiti leader and politician who the governor respects so much.”