Fayose Assaulted, Pelted With Pure Water Sachet, Cap Removed At PDP Rally In Ondo |The Source

By Ayodele Oni

In an incident which reminded one of the fate which befell former Attorney  General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Chief Bola Ige, Ayo Fayose, former Governor of Ekiti state, was assaulted, and his cap removed by alleged thugs in Akure, during the PDP final Governorship rally on Wednesday.

He was, also. pelted with sachets of pure water at the venue of the rally for PDP,s Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN.

Just before Ige, who was also a former Governor of Oyo State was murdered in his bedroom in Ibadan, his cap was removed in a similar manner at a function, allegedly  by sympathisers of Senator Iyiola Omisore, a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, with whom he had a deep political misunderstanding.

Omisore and a couple of others were arrested and detained after Ige’s murder. But they were all discharged and acquitted. He was to become a Senator thereafter.

At the time of Ige’s killing. he was President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Minister. His wife, a Judge of the Court of Appeal, died of heartbreak after the acquittal of everybody arrested over her husband’s murder.

Fayose, who had, of recent, been at loggerheads with some leaders of the PDP in the South west, had to be hurriedly hurled back into his car as some suspected thugs surged forward to physically assault him.

Dignitaries, including Chiefs Oyewole Fasawe, and Bode George, already seated at the podium, were watching as the ex-governor’s cap was removed by an attacker.

One of the attackers, who laced his body with various charms and amulets, had to be bundled out of the campaign area as he unsuccessfully tried to beat up Fayose.

After about 15 minutes, when tension died down, he was again invited by the master of ceremony to come and address the rally.

Reacting to the incident, a spokesman for the ex governor, Lere Okayinka, accused the Governor of Oyo state, Mr Seyi Makinde, and Chief Bode George as the masterminds of assault against his boss at PDP rally.

The former governor said despite the shameful act, he will not stop saying the truth concerning the running of the party in the Southwest zone and those who have failed to produce any result in Lagos State since 1999 will be made to retire.

He said he would make a formal report of the incident to the security agencies and the party’s relevant authorities,  noting that it was not something to be handled with levity

“That’s how late Chief Bola Ige’s cap was removed in Ile Ife,  Osun State then, and we all know what happened later.

“So this one will not be ignored and treated as one of those things.

“The masterminds had it all planned and they followed it up by celebrating what they saw as the success of their plot. They even capped it up by circulating the video.

“So it was not an accident,  it was planned. But those who planned it only succeeded in advertising their political myopism because popularity of the brand Ayo Fayose, Osokomole cannot be rubbished by such childish act.

“That they must have seen in the reaction of the people at the rally and I am sure they know that they can’t get such loud ovation even if they spend all the money in this world.

“As for me,  I am unperturbed and I must say it clearly that those new comers to the PDP and their old allies, who won’t mind soiling the image of the party to achieve their aims will not be allowed to succeed,” he said.

Fayose, had, a few days ago called on the PDP, Lagos State, to retire Chief Bode George from politics if they wanted the progress of the Party in the State.