A group in Ekiti State, under the banner of Democratic Defender Movement (DFM), has appealed to the Governor-elect, Dr Kayode Fayemi and the Deputy National Chairman(South) of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Otunba Niyi Adebayo, to be fair to all aspirants seeking elections ahead of 2019 in the State.
The group said the duo commanded large followership and respect among APC owing to the wide belief that they have carried themselves above sectionalism, advising that allowing themselves to be hoodwinked by any aspirant to key into imposition agenda may damage their reputations and put them into disrespect in the eyes of theirs followers.
The movement urged the two eminent Ekiti citizens to take a cue from President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who had refrained from imposing anyone in their respective states since they assumed office in 2015.
The group said any leader that treads on the path of imposition is gradually digging his own deep political grave, warning that any attempt to create unnecessary cleavage among aspirants on the premise and intention that some are more loyal to them than others might lead
to serious protest votes and internal crisis that will create a huge unabated bedlam in Ekiti APC.
In a statement tagged : ‘Open Letter to the Governor-Elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Otunba Niyi Adebayo’ and madeavailable to newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday, advised that the best way for these leaders to earn the respect of followers, is for them to pave way for the conduct of free and fair primaries where consensus is unattainable.
The statement signed by the group’s coordinator, Com. Saliu Aina, warned that if the rumour that some State Assembly and House of Representatives aspirants were being positioned for imposition against the interest of party members was found to be true, that such tendency would not only brew crisis but would boomerang and cause serious apathy that will affect the party’s fortunes in the coming election.
The letter reads: “This letter could have been delivered to you, but to make it available to you personally might be a herculean task and that is why we are using this media avenue to pass our genuine concerns across to you as our leaders, whom we believe are also fathers.
“The rumour is rife that you are perfecting plans to impose some candidates for the Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly seats in a certain district and constituencies against the wish of those with whose ladders you climbed to political stardom and gain reckoning in our state, country and globally.
“There are three Ps in a democracy; The Politics, The Party and the People, the people are the most important and most pivotal to achieve success. The moment the people are taken for granted, then leaders and parties doing so should be ready to return to political oblivion and
the pathetic situation of the Peoples Democratic Party in Nigeria and particularly our State were suffice to substantiate this philosophical assertion.
“President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo have written their names in gold by not being domineering with powers, they have been modest and these will remain indelible in the country’s political history.
“We have never heard or even found to be at the realm of rumour, attempt by President Buhari or Vice President Osinbajo to be plotting or planning to impose any candidate in Katsina and Ogun States, in spite of the enormous powers, influences, carriages and respect they earned from people, this is nothing but democracy in action.
“At a time in APC in the Southwest region, we learnt some former and serving governors of our great party actually approached a leader where they craved for decentralized leadership, where former and serving governors of the states would have the leeway to control their respective states, but that would not erode the fact that there is a centralized leadership that can mediate in case of crisis and that has been seen to be happening now in the Region.
“If that was the case, it would be a sin against God and humanity for any leader to impose any candidate through the instrumentality of the governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Otunba Niyi Adebayo here in Ekiti. This will be antithetical to the creed of justice, fairness and equity these leaders had fought to entrench in APC.
“To this end, it will be our humble advice that these leaders we so much revered must desist from imposition. Where consensus could not be reached despite their interventions, there must be free, fair and acceptable primaries to save APC from toeing a ruinous path”, the group counseled.
The group added that the leaders must learn from the fall of the PDP in Ekiti, necessitated by Governor Ayodele Fayose’s domineering tendencies and hard posturing tended towards muzzling those opposed to his views, in a desperate bid to control party structures.
“Governor Fayose thought he could manipulate the system by putting those he felt were loyal to him in the party’s structures and House of Assembly, despite his own antics and strategies failed him. Many of those he thought were loyal ended up betraying him while those that begged before getting the tickets of the PDP are still with him.
“In 2011, Dr. Fayemi canvassed that former Assembly lawmakers, Mrs Adunni Fatumbi, representing Moba II and Mrs Olayinka from Ado constituency II to get their tickets by consensual agreements, they later defected to PDP when they were needed most.
“All these instances were instructive for our leaders to believe that only God knows the hearts of men, so they should not play God by imposing people in the name of loyalty”, the group concluded.