Ahead of July 14, 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State, a socio-political group in the State, The Ekiti Patriotic Citizens (EPC) has asked Dr Kayode Fayemi, the current minister of Mines and Solid Minerals and former governor to clear himself of corruption allegations before coming out to contest in the election.
This is contained in a statement issued on Tuesday in Ado Ekiti by an All Progressives Congress, APC chieftain and the coordinator of the group, Dr James Otitoju.
The group said the only way the minister could be seen as capable of seeking reelection in Ekiti again was to tell Nigerians what he knew about the alleged stealing of N17 billion under his watch as a governor between 2010 to 2014.
It said the white paper recently released by the state governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, which indicted the ex-governor as playing active roles in the misappropriation of the state’s lean resources were too weighty and scandalous to be swept under the carpet.
Recall that a panel led by Justice Silas Oyewole, had last year probed the four-year tenure of Fayemi and came up with a recommendation that he shouldn’t hold any political position in Nigeria for ten years.
It stated ‘’that it was disgusting and stunning for Fayemi to have maintained silence to such vitriolic smear campaign coming from a sitting governor when he was nursing a governorship ambition’’
‘’The issue of Fayemi’s indictment is fast gaining traction in Ekiti and has become a veritable political tool in the hands of Governor Fayose and the PDP to further campaign against the APC”
“Apart from trying to browbeat the APC not to field Fayemi for the race, the PDP also has the intention of dragging our party into a deep dungeon by way of waiting and allow our party to proclaim him the governorship candidate before using the judiciary to validate the recommendations of the judicial commission”
“The state government is already in court to validate the recommendations which will unequivocally stop Fayemi from contesting for ten years and once this is done, when the former governor has already got the ticket, there is likelihood that the APC may go into July 14 election without a candidate. It must have been finally precluded using the instrumentality of the court”
“We should not allow ourselves to be dragged into unnecessary controversy because of someone’s ambition. We advise the state working committee and the council of elders to rather advise the minister to keep his current position and allow an independent candidate with unblemished records to emerge”
The group pleaded with Fayemi to hearken to the an admonition given by an aspirant and former member of the House of Representatives from Ekiti and a fellow aspirant on the platform of APC, Hon Bamidele Faparusi, that the party stands the chance of losing the coming election, should the party takes the risk of recycling and former governor for the seat.
“Undoubtedly, the former governor Fayemi did his best for Ekiti. But the mood doesn’t favour him, even within the party, APC”
“Members of the APC have not forgotten in a hurry how Fayemi abdicated power as a governor and concentrated it in the hands of his former Chief of Staff, Yemi Adaramodu, which led to the victimization and alienation of many party bigwigs, including the state party chairman, Chief Jide Awe”
“They have not also forgotten the way Fayemi abandoned the local politicians and imported unknown people from United States, United Kingdom and Canada to man strategic positions at the expense of those that fought the long-drawn judicial battle with him”
“They have not forgotten how Fayemi concentrated President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointments for Ekiti in the hands of his political cronies and those without political influence in Ekiti, thereby polarizing our party and weakened it the more”
“Veracious information has it that many of the aspirants have vowed to work against the party, should he be manipulated to get the party’s ticket, this is another issue that party must deeply ruminate over”
“Taking cognizance of all these factors, Fayemi may be a hard sell in Ekiti and allowing him to fly the party’s ticket will automatically kill our party and make our members to suffer for another four years” the statement added.
