Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has charged Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders and leaders resist attempts by challatants to takeover the party by force.
The governor also branded former President Olusegun Obasanjo as ingrate who betrayed the party, asking the retired general to return his N10 million donation to his library project.
He said the recent court judgement that declared Senator Ali Modu Sheriff was a calculated attempt to give the party leadership to impostors.
Fayose gave the charge yesterday at the opening session of the PDP Southwest zone stakeholders’ meeting, held at the government house in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
The governor who posited that most members are only in PDP superficially said there are quite a number of moles in the party.
Describing the Sheriff’s faction as ‘political kidnappers’ within the party, he said,” The recent court judgement is to give the PDP to those who are in the party without structure. We must all stand up and tell them it will not stand.
“Yes, they are political kidnappers , because when you took what does not belong to you, then you are a kidnapper. To me, I stand with Makarfi, because the judiciary has no reason to appoint the chairman and executive members for party owners.
“How can you call yourself the leader of a party and be working for the opposition. Sheriff and his group will fail in their devilish plot against our party. We, the committed members of this party will not allow this evil to work, because charlatans can’t be allowed to hijack our party.
“To me, the PDP is one under Ahmed Makarfi. I want you to be speaking out against President Muhammadu Buhari’s government , nobody can kill you. The tough time we are passing through is just a phase as tough
time never last but tough people do.
“They said the PDP people are corrupt, but if you look critically, the PDP are mere petty thieves while APC members are super robbers. They are only interested in destroying and oppressing our members while the
people groan in sufferings. Today, the country is under emergency situation.
“They said we should use political means to settle our differences, let me say that even if we reconcile there are some people I can’t be in the same party with . They are dirty and people like us can’t associate with them”.
” Most of the people we are seeing as members of the party are not PDP to the core, we still have moles in our midst. Some are here to destabilise the party.It is wrong to stand on the fence as a party man. For me Fayose, I stand with Makarfi and I am not going to hide it”.
Fayose disclosed that the 30 governors under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) were compelled to donate N10m each in 2005 to the multi-billion naira projects, describing this as the greatest fraud ever .
The PDP Southwest caucus , had also passed a confidence vote in the leadership of the Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee, branding the Ali Modu Sheriff group as mere usurpers of the party’s structure.
Those present at the meeting include: Host governor, Mr. Fayose, his deputy,
Dr Kolapo Olusola, former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Gbenga Daniels, Senator Iyiola Omisore, former PDP Deputy Chairman, Chief Bode George, former PDP National Vice Chairman, Mr Tajudeen Oladipo, PDP Spokesperson, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, a member of the House of Representative from Ogun, Hon Oladipupo Adebutu, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Prof Olu Agbi, Prof Eyitayo Jegede.
Others are: PDP Chairmen in Ogun, Chief Sikirudeen Ogundele, Ondo, Clement Faboyede, Ekiti, Chief Gboyega Oguntuase, Oyo, Hon Muraina Ajibola, Lagos, Mr Moshood Salvador, Osun, Mr Bayo Faforiji, Chief Mrs
Kofoworola Bucknor, Chief Paul Alabi, among others.
The governor who advised former President Obasanjo to stop seeing himself as a saint said “We were compelled to make the donation as PDP governors in 2005 and now I need the return of my money with interest”, he said.
Fayose boasted that he will concede victory to the APC in the next year’s election if the opposition wins ten out of the 177 wards in the state.
“I am even ready to concede defeat if they win only one local government. No matter what they do, we are on ground and we are winning 16-0 again, because we have the people behind us”, he boasted.
In the communiqué read by the Ekiti State Deputy governor after the meeting, the party passed confidence vote in Makarfi leadership and also declared support for the party’s appeal against the judgement of
the Appeal Court, which validated the Sheriff-led Executive.
The party also reposed confidence in the leadership of Fayose as the
Chairman of the PDP Governors’ forum and the Eddy Olafeso-led south
west leadership.