# PRINCE ADEDAYO ADEYEYE IS THE MAN#In Ekiti, the contest for the occupancy of the State’s Government House is in full blast as far as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state is concerned. The ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is visibly on the horns of dilemma as it may not have a smooth sail due to a ravaging internal wrangling that is almost tearing its fabric apart. As it stands, the road to the government house for the party is already gathering more bumps than imagined, by the day. The situation is worsened by the failing hope of the people in a government they thought would offer them the needed succour after the protracted struggle for incumbent governor Kayode Fayemi to claim his mandate by many segments of the society during the re-run election and the attendant legal tussle. The ACN popularity in the state is further dwarfed by the lingering tussle between one of its member of the House of Representatives, Opeyemi Bamidele and Fayemi over who flies the kite for the party in the 2014 gubernatorial elections. The unchecked development has led to killings and destruction of property of fellow party men in the state. But not much attention was given Ekiti politics at the twilight of the current democratic experience when Otunba Niyi Adebayo came on board in 1999. The state would later have its share of national and global attention when Adebayo lost to People’s Democratic Party, PDP’s Ayo Fayose in 2003. It was not the loss that was the issue; it was the controversies that characterised the Fayose administration. He could not complete his tenure following intrigues and keen inter-play of interests. Fayose was impeached by the 26 member House of Assembly out of which 25 are PDP members as a result of his ignoble rule. He was however replaced by Gen. Adetunji Olurin (rtd) who was in power by reason of state of emergency declared in the state by the then head of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo. The emergency era existed between October 8, 2006 and April 27, 2007. In the Ekiti PDP today, many of its prominent members have already signified interest to contest its governorship ticket come 2014. Among them, only Prince Dayo Adeyeye, an Afenifere chieftain, and former governor, Ayo Fayose, have declared their intention to secure the party’s ticket for the governorship race. And favoured by every political calculations on ground that may eventually form the parameter with which the party’s candidate would be chosen, Adeyeye seems to hold the ace judging by the turnout of party faithful during their declarations in the State capital city of Ado-Ekiti, this year. Apart from Adeyeye and Fayose, others who may be eyeing the seat are Police Affairs Minister, Caleb Olubolade, Senator Gbenga Aluko (Ekiti South); Abiodun Aluko (Ekiti South); and Chief Adeyanju Bodunde, former aide of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (Ekiti Central). Others are former federal legislator Wale Aribisala (Ekiti North); Senator Ayo Arise (North); former Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Bode Olowoporoku, former Deputy Governors Abiodun Olujimi, (South), Chief Bisi Omoyeni (South); Yinka Akerele (North) and former chairman of Ise-Orun council, Chief Ropo Ogunbolude. Among them, Olubolade, has his impact for being the most prominent public office holder at the federal level from the party. His emergence as a substantive minister after the election of President Goodluck Jonathan has also buoyed his relevance. Even before now, when he was a Minister of State, he played key financial roles in the party and had always done so, thereby making him a rallying point too. The political relevance of immediate past National Assembly members cannot be undermined. When the weight of people like Senator Ayo Arise, Mr Wale Aribisala, Chief Abiodun Aluko and others are considered, the Ekiti PDP should be the better for it. However, Senator Aluko contested election to the Senate in 1999 on the platform of the PDP, thus being the only man who was able to break the chain of dominance of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) of that time. But he also vied for the governorship in 2007 on the ticket of LP and performed poorly. But in spite of the long list, the reality on ground in Ekiti is that there are only two contestants for the gubernatorial seat under the aegis of PDP. While Prince Adeyeye is leading in terms of political exposure, followership and maturity, Fayose queue behind him, for being a onetime governor who had also used his tenure in office to build some political structures for himself. This, however was grossly abused when he turned against the party to support the incumbent governor Fayemi against his party man, Oni, in the course of the fierce legal battle that wrestle power from PDP in the state. The return of Fayose into the PDP fold created more disaffection than existed in his absence. Not only did he resume his hostilities with Oni, who he did not support during the rerun, his disloyalty in the trial time of the party and the naked arrogance with which he carried out his leadership during his term of office, has created more enemies than friends for him within the PDP fold. Many of the party loyalists see no positive signal coming the way of the party should Fayose get the ticket to contest the gubernatorial race. Fayose is view by many as a spent politician who, like the biblical prodigal son, made a mess of governance and spent the time he could have used to make amends hobnobbing with opposition to oust Oni, his party man. The fact that Fayose contested for Senate under the Labour party and lost abysmally while he could not deliver a seat for his party in the state House of Assembly are enough indication that his political relevance in the state christened “the fountain of knowledge” has waned considerably. To many, Prince Adeyeye has all that it takes to lead the party to victory in the coming election with his high points coming from his background of being a staunch Afenifere chieftain who once presided over the secretariat of the Pro Yoruba group and known to be a committed party man through his outstanding defence of the party before, during and after the election that brought in Segun Oni in 2007. He is also seen as the only candidate with clean record to challenge the ACN, unlike Fayose who had wined, dined and got his hands soiled with the opposition and is also still battling with issues bothering on sharp practices while in office with the Economic and financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Another plus for Adeyeye is the fact that he is from the South, a zone that has not produced any governor since 1999. It is on record that the other two senatorial zones in the state have produced two governors each while the south is yet to produce any. Though many of the contestants had argued that zoning has no place in Ekiti politics, their position was recently punctured by the Publicity Secretary, South-west PDP, Kayode Babade, who in a statement after a meeting of PDP leaders from Ekiti South senatorial zone recently said that it is only fair that the South be allowed to produce the PDP candidate. According to him, the agitation was in conformity with the constitution of the PDP that emphasises zoning and rotation of political power. So far, the South zone is not lacking in the required material for the office. As at the last count, aside from Adeyeye who is currently holding the ace, there are about seven prominent Ekiti indigenes in the list of those suspected to be nursing the gubernatorial ambition that are from the southern senatorial zone of the state. Already, party elders from the Ekiti South Senatorial zone had suggested that the governorship ticket be given to a candidate from the zone. And for this, they are said to have the support of the general membership of Ekiti PDP. If this is pulled through, observers believe the PDP may have just begun to clear the coast ahead of 2014 in the state because so far, it is the only zone that had not produced a governor of its extraction. Thus, should Adeyeye be picked by the PDP to fly its flag for the 2014 gubernatorial race, the move may as well set the stage for a clean slate for the party to re-assert itself as the party of the people of Ekiti.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 11:59:44 +0000
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