South-west PDP Leaders Declare Fayose Persona Non Grata

Shola Oyeyipo
The South-west leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, a persona non grata as well as dissociated the zone from his activities.

This was the position expressed Tuesday in a communique issued by the party leadership after a stakeholders’ meeting held in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The party leaders also noted that the executive of the party in the region under the leadership of Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe is the validly elected and judicially sanctioned leadership of the zone, and enjoined the national leadership and the Ekiti State chapter of the party to stop dealing with Fayose.

Ogundipe, a PDP stalwart from Ekiti State who was Fayose’s nominee at the October 11, 2014 South-west zonal congress, who read the communique issued at the end of the meeting, condemned the alleged “hostile, authoritarian and distabilising activities of Fayose.”

According to him, “We demand that he should be called to order before he sounds the death knell on the party in the Southwest. The authentic zonal leadership and stakeholders hereby declare Fayose persona non grata and dissociate the zone from his activities.

“We resolved further that henceforth, the national leadership of our party and the Ekiti State chapter should desist from relating with him as it regards the South-west zone.”Alleging that Fayose and some others are fanning the embers of discord within the party, the party leaders also expressed concern over the activities of the duo of Eddy Olafeso and Bunmi Jenyo, and others who were described as “products of a contraption which has since been nullified by the Federal High Court, Lagos in suit No: FHC/L/CS/605/2016.”

Insisting that his leadership remains in the region, Ogundipe said: “The provision of our party made it clear that any elected officer will serve for four years, therefore, nobody, whether governor or not, can remove us from office until October 2018.”

Some of the party notables present at the meeting included National Assembly members representing Ogun East senatorial district, Senator Buruji Kashamu; former Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Abiodun Aluko; former PDP National Auditor, Alhaji Fatai Adeyanju; former PDP National Secretary, Prof Wale Oladipo; Mr. Tunde Carenna, Mr. Segun Adewale, Mr. Wahab Owokoniran, Chief Gbenga Otegbolu, Chief Kolapo Ogunjobi, Mr. Hakeem Taiwo and Mr. Adekola Razak.