Ekiti APC: Faction Constitutes Parallel Exco At Wards, LG Levels

By Ayodele Oni

The last is yet to be heard about internal wrangling within the All Progressive Congress, (APC) in Ekiti state as a faction loyal to the National leader of the Party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has set up parallel executives for the party at the Wards and Local Government levels in the State.

The ceremony was performed Thursday by Senator Dayo Adeyeye, a leading campaigner of Tinubu for President.

Senator Adeyeye, leader of SWAGA, and some leaders of the APC in the State, had expressed reservation about the conduct of the Congresses of the party, insisting that there was no election.

The leader of the SWAGA Group, had condemned the processes adopted for the conduct of the Congresses at the Wards and Local Government levels, calling on the leadership of the party at the National level not to ratify the outcome.

Senator Adeyeye who briefed the Press on the outcome of the Congress in Ado Ekiti berated the National leadership of the party for not heeding earlier calls by stakeholders to put in place measures to guarantee a hitch free exercise.

“We want to believe that the Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), of our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), meant well when it gave the go ahead that Ward Congresses should hold across the country.

“The Ward Congresses purportedly took place in Ekiti State. But the manner of its conduct was nothing near all democratic norms as it was warped, disorderly, perverse and can only pass for a charade.

“Prior to the congresses, the Tokan-Tokan, a group loyal to the State governor Kayode Fayemi, has constituted for themselves a 7-man electoral committee, with no input from many party stakeholders in the State.

“This is even as the CECPC had earlier advised that effort should be geared towards peaceful resolution of conflicts so that the APC could birth consensus delegates across board.

“You will recall that the Ekiti State Chairman of SWAGA, Senator Tony Adeniyi, had issued a release to the effect that while consensus delegates, as advised by the CECPC, was desirable, it would be impossible in Ekiti State because of the determination of the Tokan-Tokan group, to dominate and control the soul of the congresses.

“Senator Adeniyi warned that the unbridled actions of the group would have grave consequences. But the warning was ignored.

“Now the consequences of the arrogance and selfishness of the Tokan-Tokan group, to impose their favourites on members, stirs us in the face.

“As witnessed at most of the centers, members of the Tokan-Tokan group took over the INEC job.

“We are miffed by this level of desperation and wanton electoral recklessness. If it will take killings, wounding of over a hundred of our members and all sorts of violence, for the Tokan-Tokan- group to succeed in an intra-party contest, what are we going to witness in a general election?

“It is disheartening that those charged with the responsibility to strengthen our party in Ekiti are rather pillaging and giving it all sorts of bad names on the track of violence. If we lost three lives in the Ekiti East bye elections and this again in an intra-party affair, then there is still more to be done to lead us to the right path.

“We are hereby telling the CECPC, our party members nationwide and indeed, all Nigerians, that there was no congress in Ekiti State. What happened was a charade that cannot pass the test of democracy and it is totally unacceptable.”

There has been no response from the main faction loyal to Governor Kayode Fayemi.