This declaration was made by the state chairman of the party, Mr. Clement Faboyede when he led a delegation of the party to pay homage to the new Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade-Aladelusi in his palace.
Mr. Faboyede stated that the party would adopt the zoning formula and conduct party primaries to select its candidate for the next year governorship election, adding that not less than eight aspirants are eyeing the governorship seat; this in his view is a testimony to the acceptability of the party in the state.
The party chieftain boasted that the PDP which is the ruling party in the state would retain the governorship seat according to him, the incumbent governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko would support a credible candidate to take over from him next year.
His words, “PDP is the only party that is on ground. In next year’s election already, we have not less than eight contestants, vibrant young men who have excelled in their areas of calling from different parts of the state.
“What can you say about other parties? They have nobody in their party. What I am saying is that Mr Governor (Mimiko) will not handpick anybody. We will go through the due process of party zoning and primaries to pick our candidate for the election. Everything will be transparent. There is no party that does not zone, you don’t throw things like that out and it goes haywire and it becomes commoners’ game.”
Commenting on the delay in appointing key government officials at the Federal level, Faboyede said it is sacrilegious for a government who has been in place for two months not to appoint for instance, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), saying “it is a manifestation of unpreparedness; it is a manifestation that they do not know what they stand for. These people are simply not ready for governance.”
He declared that President Muhammadu Buhari has no excuse not to have appointed the SGF and the Chief of Staff to the President almost two months after he was sworn into office.
Faboyede who was a former commissioner of Community Development and Cooperative Societies, assured said the monarch that the party would bring more developmental projects to the town.
The new monarch, who spoke through the Asamo of Akure, Chief Rotimi Olusanya appreciated the PDP-led government for its developmental projects across the state, emphasizing that more things needed to be done to bring the town to the level of its state capital counterparts in the country.
While reacting to the allegations against his party, the APC and President Buhari, the State Publicity Secretary of the party, Abayomi Adesanya said the President is trying to fix the mess left behind by the past PDP government at the national level.
He remarked that it is not all about appointing people and giving them portfolios, but that it is about recruiting credible people with blameless records and charge them with responsibilities to man sensitive offices, purely on merit.
Adesanya described the boast by the PDP on next year’s governorship election in the state as “a mere rant of an ant”, vowing that “Mimiko is the last PDP governor of the state, as Jonathan is the last PDP President of the country.”
Meanwhile APC members from the Central Senatorial District of the state have condemned the senator representing the district, Tayo Alasoadura and the state party chairman, Isaac Kekemeke, accusing them of impunity and undermining the party.
At a press briefing by the former a former House of Representative member representing Akure South/North Federal Constituency, Ifedayo Abegunde, attended by the chairmen of the six councils as well as all the ward chairmen, women leaders, state youth leader and other leaders from the Central district, flayed Kekemeke for condoning the excesses of Senator Alasoadura.
Abegunde, who contested the senatorial primary with Alasoadura in the last election, claimed he had refrained from making public comment but could not overlook the excesses of the party chieftains, whose actions he said are capable of ruining the fortunes of the party in the state.
He said he thought the senator had shown remorse and apologised to the party for his anti-party activities at the Senate but “became worried when I saw Chief Tayo Alasoadura on AIT Political Programme on Monday morning, 22nd June defending his action by voting against the directives of his party.”
The two term member of the House of Representatives (2007-2015), Abegunde, further accused Alasoadura of publicly discrediting the candidate which the party had presented for the Senate prsidency, saying such a party candidate could not be his leader and making it clear that “ he is the only Yoruba man in the Southwest from the APC that voted for Senator Saraki against the directives of his party.”
According to him: “The situation became worrisome when the state chairman of our party, D.I. Kekemeke led some party leaders to celebrate at his (Alasoadura’s) Iju country home in Akure North Local Government on Saturday 27, June 2015 during his thanks-giving party on his electoral victory.”
The APC chieftain remarked that he, alongside other leaders of the party, have decided to dissociate themselves from the action of Alasoadura against the party, because that “might make people to erroneously conclude that Akure people are betrayals.”
He urged Alasoadura to show remorse over his actions and be sober and the party and the district would always welcome him as a prodigal son.
