The chairman of the Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Jide Awe, has refuted claims in some quarters that the party was planning to rig its candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi into office in the forthcoming governorship election.
Awe said the party has strong credentials of performance to win under a free and fair election.
He explained that the defections of PDP bigwigs, like the former Minister of Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye and ex-Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Owoseeni Ajayi to APC were justifiable, saying they took the action due to alleged dictatorship tendencies of Governor Ayodele Fayose.
Awe spoke in Erinjiyan Ekiti on Monday during a reception held in his honour by the people of the town after spending three years in exile due to alleged murder charge preferred against him by Fayose’s government.
The government had charged Awe with the killings of one Mrs. Julianah Adewumi and Ayo Jeje in the town prior to the June 21, 2014 governorship election in the state and he had to flee the state to prevent being arrested. The State High Court handling the matter had recently discharged and acquitted him upon the withdrawal of the case by the Fayose government.
Awe praised the APC State Working Committee (SWC) for not impeaching him as he urged the members to use the same spirit to work for Fayemi’s success in the coming governorship election.
“We are not interested in taking Ekiti about by force, the good credentials of our party in terms of performances in all the 133 towns were sufficient to defeat PDP in this election,” Awe said.
On the fear that the defections of Adeyeye and others to APC may spark unwarranted crisis between the old and new members, Awe said, “Party is about crisis management. We are going to manage everybody.
“APC is like a beautiful flower that is attracting all manners of insects, but we shall reward everybody based on contributions.
“There is no watertight legal framework that regulates defection, and there is no way you can stop people from leaving a party when it was being run like a personal estate the way Governor Fayose has been doing in PDP. Not everybody can be comfortable with his style.”
“We shall manage them effectively. APC is a big political family with large tentacles that can accommodate everybody,” he said.
-Daily Post
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