Ekiti: Crisis In APC Over Fayemi Commissioners’ List

By Ayodele Oni, Ado Ekiti

The nomination of 14 commissioner designates by Ekiti state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi is causing disquiet in the ranks of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the state.

Governor Fayemi had early this week forwarded their names to the State House of Assembly for confirmation after what seemed like an endless wait.

And two days after they received the list, the lawmakers, dominated by card carrying members of People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) confirmed them.

They will be sworn in next Tuesday.

One glaring thing about these new commissioners is the fact that no fewer than eight, served with Dr Fayemi during his first term as governor, 2012 to 2016.

They were among those that allegedly misled him which eventually led to his defeat by Ayo Fayose during the 2015 governorship election.

Although, there is this assertion that Dr Fayemi, during his sojourn in Abuja as a minister used the period to undergo more training at the school of politics which has tremendously assisted him during his second coming.

Even this fact can be more attested to by the way he bulldozed his way during the governorship primary of his party, the All Progressives Congress,(APC) which earned him the party’s ticket.

Even though he was the last aspirant to declare his interest in the governorship out of over 20 contestants he won the primary.

Fayemi’s political wizardry is further noticed in the way that he has now somehow become politically influential especially in the south west, he’s believed to have contributed immensely to the emergence of APC governors Ondo and Osun states.

But can we say this about his new commissioner nominees, some of whom got the appointment as a compensation for supporting Dr Fayemi during the party primary.

Due to the fact that he came out late into the race, his front-runners had garnered and wooed virtually all known figures in the APC to their camp, but these people were still playing the waiting game and stayed back until their man joined the race.

Also noticeable is the fact that apart from, Mr. Olumilua, the son of the former executive governor of old Ondo state, Chief Bamidele Olumilua, all the nominees are members of the JKF family comprising mainly those that worked for him during the primaries.

Supporters of other aspirants are still waiting for what becomes of their fate during this second term of Dr Fayemi.

Will he keep to his threat that none of them will taste dividend of democracy within the next four years?

This manifested during the nomination of candidates for positions at the national and state assemblies, as only members of the JKF family got tickets.

Even in few appointments he has made so far, it has been a case of man know man. No member of other camps has made the list and this is contrary to Dr Fayemi’s promise before the last election that all those that worked for the victory of the party would be accommodated.

With the elections concluded and commissioners designate due for inauguration next Tuesday, those not within the famous JKF dynasty within the APC in Ekiti state seem to have lost out completely in the power game and the next four years seem bleak for them.

A member of the JKF group from Ilejemeje local government while defending the choice of Mr Folorunso Olabode as a commissioner for the second time, said he deserved it because he was the first and only leader in the area that identified with Fayemi when he came knocking and that part of politics is that you reap from where you sow.