Some members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State loyal to former Governor Ayodele Fayose, on Monday, rejected their appointment and list of members of the party’s Presidential Campaign Committee and management committee.
The Director-General, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, had on Sunday released a list of PCC members for the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, for Ekiti State.
However, the rejection by some members and stakeholders including a former governorship candidate, Bisi Kolawole, named as the state PCC chairman in a letter to the PDP PCO DG, titled, ‘Re-appointment as chairman of PCC Ekiti State,’ made available in Ado Ekiti on Monday, said although he had not been contacted about the appointment, he wished to raise concern on the membership.
The letter read, “Even though I regard the appointment as honour, I wish to state that I will not be able to function amid people who openly and gladly worked against my election.
“The SDP members included in the Campaign Management Committee are people who left the 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 the National Assembly and National Assembly elections will hold the same day as that of the President?”
Other PDP members including Omotoso Okeya, who was appointed to serve on the committee as Assistant Secretary, Directorate of Research and Strategy, rejected their nomination to serve on the committee in the state.
In the same vein, some PDP National Assembly candidates in the state for the 2023 general elections also rejected the composition of the Campaign Management Committee for the state, saying it comprised people who would work against their ambitions.
The candidates – Lateef Ajijola (Ekiti Central senatorial), Funso Ayeni (North senatorial), Oluyinka Akerele (Reps Ekiti North 1), Lere Olayinka (Reps Ekiti Central 2), Mrs Adenike Emiola (Reps Ekiti South 2), Joju Fayose (Reps Ekiti Central 1) and Babatunde Ajayi (Reps Ekiti North 2) made the position known in a letter to the campaign DG titled “Rejection of Ekiti State PCC and Campaign Management Committee.”
The seven candidates stated, “Particularly, the persons appointed as Directors of Campaign for the Central and North Senatorial Districts are members of SDP. SDP is fielding senatorial, House of Representatives, and House of Assembly candidates in the above-mentioned senatorial districts. The implication is that SDP members will work against us as our Senatorial Directors of Campaign for our elections.”
PDP indifferent
Meanwhile, the PDP Presidential Campaign Council has said the rejection of appointment to the council by Fayose’s loyalists is nothing to worry about.
The spokesman of the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organisation, Charles Aniagwu, told The PUNCH that Atiku would go ahead with the campaign regardless of the setback.
“It is their decision. They were appointed into the PCC as a way of bringing in more people to build inclusiveness but they are at liberty to accept or reject. That they have chosen not to be part of the campaign does not mean they will not work for the party or the candidate.
“Before their appointment, we were doing very well with the campaign and we will continue to do so. But we must state here that they may even work for the PDP from the outside than from the inside. They must not necessarily be members of the campaign council,” he said.
