Fayemi casting his ballot at Saturday botched primary.
The Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State was on Monday, in turmoil as those sympathetic to the cause of former Governor Kayode Fayemi besieged the party’s office to register their disapproval over the conduct of the members of the State Working Committee.
The protesters, who brandished placards of various inscriptions, also passed vote of no confidence on the State Chairman of the Party, Chief Jide Awe and party spokesman, Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun , for allegedly supporting one of the aspirants in the race.
The protesters under the auspices of Concerned APC stakeholders, comprising mostly delegates and party leaders from the local government and ward levels, accused Awe of working in cahoots with Governor Ayo Fayose to destabilize the party ahead of July 14 governorship election and that he had been offered N75 million to carry out the sinister job.
Relying on Article 21 (7) of the party’s constitution, they disbanded the SWC and set up a Caretaker Committee, headed by APC Chairman in Ise/Orun Council, Mr. Michael Eegunjobi and laced the premises of the party secretariat with fetish objects.
The embattled party chairman, Awe narrowly escaped being killed by irate party members and was said to have been taken out of the secretariat by mobile policemen while police vans stationed at the secretariat building were locked up.
The Coordinator of the group, Barr Adeoye Aribasoye, said: they are concerned APC members in Ekiti who had it on good authority that the peaceful election held on Saturday would have been successful, but for alleged connivance between Awe and Governor Fayose.
“We are hereby passing vote of no confidence in Awe and SWC members for taking sides. It was Awe and Olatunbosun that allowed those thugs to enter and disrupt the poll.
“The same Jide Awe now going around to say the election should be cancelled. He even met with Governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura and APC National Vice Chairman , Pius Akinyelure on Sunday to ask for consensus in favour of Segun Oni”, he said.
According to him, It is against the tenets of democracy and APC statute for SWC to be showing open bias. As a result of this, we held a congress today where it was agreed that a caretaker committee to be led by Hon Kayode Eegunjobi as Chairman and Michael Akinleye as Secretary. Other members are Bose Yakubu from Ijero Local Government, Akinlabi Idowu from Ikole and Abiodun Fawekun from Ido/Osi.
When asked whether the congress has the power to remove a state SWC members , Aribasoye retorted: “Anybody can convene the congress and it is the most powerful organ of the party, so our decision is binding on the party”.
However, some aspirants, led by former Governor Segun Oni and 26 others, have tackled the position of the NWC that the committee that conducted the disrupted election should return to the state and continue the exercise.
At a meeting in Ado Ekiti in reaction to the statement credited to the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi on Ekiti crisis, the aspirants maintained that the ballot cast on Saturday in five local government before the violence had been rendered invalid.
Spokesperson of the aspirants, Dr. Yaya-Kolade, said the fact that the results were not counted, collated and announced at the venue, had vitiated the process, pointing out that the whole world could see how they smashed the ballot boxes and displayed it on swampy ground that day, the ballot papers were not counted and its credibility has been vitiated.
Former Governor Segun Oni , in his reaction, blasted the protesters, who purportedly removed the State Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe on account of alleged compromise of the primary, describing them as misguided party members.
Oni, in his reaction to the formation of a caretaker committee to replace the SWC , said: “This is a political party and nobody can just wake up and say he wants to remove party leaders without following due process.
“There are processes spelt out for the removal of a State Chairman and other members of his council. Unfortunately, these people are getting desperate and they continue to get desperate and this will lead us nowhere.
“We can’t be coerced, intimidated or repressed by anybody, this party belongs to all of us. They should be careful, so that they won’t lead us into chaos. We beg those propelling them, those behind them to take caution in the interest of our party”, he stated.
In his reaction, the embattled state chairman, denied ever working with Fayose to rock the APC’s boat in the governorship poll, saying he remains Fayose’s number one political enemy in the state.
