Fayose’s  Allies Reject Membership Of Atiku/Okowa PCC; Cite Inclusion of Opposition Members

By Ayodele Oni

The list containing names of members of Presidential campaign Council of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Ekiti state, released on Sunday is dead on arrival.

This is because prominent members of the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Council for Ekiti state have started to reject their appointment into the Council.

Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Director-General of the PDP’s Presidential Campaign Organization (PCO), had released names of members to steer the wheels of their campaign in Ekiti ahead of the 2023 General Elections.

Among names listed is Bisi Kolawole, the Gubernatorial Candidate in the June election. He was named Chairman of the Council, while Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe was named Vice Chairman.

Kolawole and Ogundipe are die-hard followers of former Governor Ayo Fayose. Both have rejected the appointments.

Kolawole, the appointed Ekiti PCC Chairman was the first to denounce the list, claiming that some names in it are not members of PDP.

In an open letter to the PDP’s PCO, which was copied to the Presidential flag bearers, Atiku Abubakar and Ifeanyi Okowa, he claimed that he was not officially notified about his appointment as PCC Chairman.

He also mentioned the replacement of the PCC list of PDP members he had previously submitted with another that included some members of the opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, (SDP).

The letter reads : “My attention has been drawn to the list of members of the Presidential Campaign Council and Campaign Management Committee for Ekiti State, being circulated on Social Media.

“Even though I have not been officially consulted by anyone, I wish to raise the following concerns as per the membership of the Campaign Council and Management Committee, should the list being circulated on Social Media be authentic.

“As you already know, I am a committed and loyal member of the PDP, and so I will remain.

“However, in spite of that, I regard this appointment as an honour, but I wish to state that I will not be able to function in the midst of people who openly and gladly worked against my election.

“As it was done in other States, I was given a template and instructed to come up with list of members of the Presidential Campaign Council and Campaign Management Committee.

“In arriving at the list, I followed the template and consulted relevant stakeholders, most importantly National Assembly candidates whose elections are on the same date as that of the president.

“Also, in the meeting with the Vice Presidential Candidate of our party, His Excellency, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, it was agreed that the list was okay and that it should only be moderated by including about three or five names.

“By ignoring that list and including people who are still in the Social Democratic Party (SDP), it is a clear indication that the Presidential Campaign Organization does not respect its own decisions.

“Also, the SDP members included in the Campaign Management Committee are people who left PDP before the governorship election and have not returned to the party.

“With their inclusion in the Campaign Committee, how will they function when their party, the SDP, is also fielding candidates for National Assembly and the National Assembly elections will hold same day as that of the President?

“Will they be campaigning for the presidential candidate of our party and at the same time be campaigning for the Senatorial and House of Representatives candidates of the SDP?

“While I am not against the party and its presidential candidate having a working arrangement with members of other parties, including the SDP, I am however of the belief that such arrangements should not amount to rewarding people who decamped to other parties to work against the PDP with the membership of the party’s campaign committee.

“By doing this, we are only saying that it pays to leave PDP and work for other parties. This to me, will be a sad commentary on party loyalty and discipline.

“In view of the above, I wish to notify you that I will not be able to function as Chairman of the Campaign Council. This will, however, not affect my commitment as a member and a leader of the PDP in Ekiti State.”

Also rejecting the PCC list are the seven PDP National Assembly candidates: Alhaji Lateef Ajijola, Senatorial Candidate, Central, Funso Ayeni, Senatorial Candidate, North.

Others are: Otunba Oluyinka Akerele, House of Reps Candidate, Ekiti North 1, Lere Olayinka, House of Reps Candidate, Ekiti Central 2,  Mrs. Emiola Adenike Jennifer, House of Reps Candidate, Ekiti South 2, Joju Fayose, House of Reps Candidate, Ekiti Central 1, and Otunba Babatunde Ajayi, House of Reps Candidate, Ekiti North their rejection letter PCO, they also cited the inclusion of opposition members on the list.

“Our attention has been drawn to the Presidential Campaign Council and Campaign Management Committee for Ekiti State, as released by your good self, being circulated on various social media platforms.

“Particularly, the persons appointed as Directors of Campaign for the Central and North Senatorial Districts are members of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

“The SDP is fielding Senatorial, House of Representatives, and House of Assembly candidates in the above-mentioned Senatorial Districts.

“In the list, the majority of the nominees are not members of the PDP. They are SDP members. Furthermore, the majority of the rest who are PDP members did not win their polling units in the last governorship election.

“Our elections will be held alongside that of the president. The implication is that members of SDP will work against us as our Senatorial Directors of Campaign for our elections.

“To us, the campaign council/committee is not a gift item to impress anybody if the objective is actually to win the elections.

Senator Duro Faseyi who left the PDP to pick the senatorial ticket for Ekiti on the platform of SDP was named as a director for Ekiti north district in the PCC list.