As the governorship election in Ekiti State draws near, what is supposed to be the priority of the Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is how to wrest power from the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
From my observation, there have been discussions among some people in our senatorial district that the next governor should come from this district. Though some notable m0embers from the area have advised that the contest should be thrown open to all the three senatorial districts so that a popular and formidable candidate that can defeat the ACN could emerge through a transparent primary.
The ruling ACN, hiding under the name, Ekiti South PDP Youth Forum, has printed and distributed leaflets in the state, advising indigenes of Ekiti South not to succumb to pressure from any quarter. Text messages were equally sent to mobile phones of many Ekiti people, living within and outside the state, propagating Ekiti South Agenda. Fortunately, some PDP leaders from the South have been able to detect the underground activities of the ACN to weaken the PDP before the election.
As a matter of fact, let all the PDP members unite to wrest power from the ACN. You can talk of zoning if you have the power. You are unserious if you don’t have the power and you are talking of zoning. It is like putting the cart before the horse.
The PDP leadership in Kano, Sokoto, Katsina, Bayelsa, Enugu, Akwa Ibom or Kogi States could talk of zoning the governorship seat to any district because PDP is in power in those states. It will be suicidal for the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Katsina State to decide zoning its governorship seat to Katsina Central when the candidate that can defeat the incumbent PDP governor is from Katsina North.
A kind of new democratic wind, blowing across the PDP does not seem to favour zoning. The revolution has produced President Goodluck Jonathan and Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1999 and 2003 when PDP purportedly zoned the president to the South-west, the late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi from the North-west and Dr. Alex Ekwueme from the South-east violated it.
Over the years, political parties have tended to place high premium on popular candidate or an area that can win election instead of zoning. No party wishes to lose in election. Therefore, they place high premium as well on strategy. For instance, in Oyo State, with the exception of Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, who is from Oyo North, all other governors whether through PDP, ACN, AD, SDP, NPN have been from Oyo South. Similarly in Kogi State, their governors have always come from one senatorial district.
In Ekiti, no district had been disallowed in the past to attempt the governorship primaries. Senator Gbenga Aluko contested on the ticket of Labour Party (LP) in 2007, while Chief Abiodun Aluko and Chief Banji Olowofela contested in the PDP primary. They all lost. Sola Akinyede was a PDP governorship aspirant in 2002. He equally lost. Prince Dayo Adeyeye was ACN governorship aspirant in 2007 but lost to Governor Kayode Fayemi and later defected to PDP. If the distinguished politicians, who are from the South have won their elections, they would have been governors of the state.
The best thing for the Ekiti PDP is to continue to leave the door open to all interested aspirants from the three senatorial districts because the method has always worked in favour of the party. If anybody is canvassing for anything contrary to this standard democratic norm, such a fellow could be working for the opposition.
The 2014 governorship election in this state is going to be a litmus test for the new coalition, All Progressives Congress (APC) to defeat the PDP in the 2015 general election. Secondly, it will determine whether the PDP will continue to remain in opposition in Ekiti State or not.
Therefore, in a such crucial competition, you don’t go for the contest with imposed or consensus candidate, but with a popular and formidable candidate, as no football coach would ever field its second eleven team, for a FIFA organised competition.
If we are talking of the best candidate in this regard, it is no other person than Mr Ayo Fayose, the former governor of this state. Queeing behind him to defeat either Governor Kayode Fayemi or whoever the ACN would present, will do the party good.
Fayose has done more of mobilising the party members at the grassroot for the election than any other aspirant. He is a political strategist, calculator and mobiliser per excellence. Outside the party, Fayose is loved by Ekiti people especially the teachers, local government workers, artisans, traders, pensioners, civil servants, because of what he did for them when he was governor of the state between 2003 and 2006.
The prayer of the Ekiti ACN is that the PDP doesn’t present Fayose so that it could win again. The party’s fear is hinged on the fact that in 2003, this same Ayo Fayose, with no pedigree defeated the incumbent Alliance for Democracy (AD) governor, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo.
Shortly after the PDP primary at where Fayose defeated Chief SK Babalola with a very wide margin, the AD chieftains threw a party at the Government House to celebrate the defeat of Babalola, who the AD believed, was the only one that could defeat Adebayo. However, Fayose trounced the AD and sent Adebayo out of the Government House.
A chieftain of the ACN had at a forum in Abuja early this year advised a leader of the PDP not to support the Fayose as candidate because he is not popular. But the PDP chieftain told him that it was better for the ACN to prefer Fayose who is not popular, and who it can defeat easily to a stronger and popular candidate it cannot defeat. The ACN chieftain was disappointed at the reply.
There should be nothing like imposition or consensus arrangement. Allow the best and most popular candidate to emerge in a transparent and litigation free primary so that the PDP can take Ekiti back.
Alagbada, a PDP chieftain, is from
Ise Ekiti, Ekiti State.
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