Ekiti State PDP chapter removes Fayose as party leader and replaces him with Senator Olujimi

FORMER Ekiti State governor Ayo Fayose has been removed as the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state and replaced with senate minority leader sand former deputy governor Senator Biodun Olujimi.

 

Last month, Governor Fayose submitted himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following the end of his tenure and the lapsing of his immunity from prosecution. Turning up at the commission's offices in Abuja wearing a T-shirt with the inscription EFCC I'm Here, Governor Fayose said he is ready to answer any questions about his stewardship.

 

He has since been flown to Lagos where he faces 11 counts of corruption but has been released on bail pending the hearing of his suit. While he is embroiled in this drama, Governor Fayose has been relieved of his leadership position within the party and replaced with Senator Olujimi, who is now the PDP's highest ranking political office holder in the southwest geo-political zone.

 

Art a recent meeting of PDP stakeholders in Ekiti State, delegates took the decision and also asked for the immediate dissolution of the present state working committee led by chairman Gboyega Oguntuase, demanding the constitution of a caretaker committee. Party chieftains who attended the meeting included Senator Olujimi, former deputy governor, Sikiru Lawal, former acting governor Olatunji Odeyemi, Ekiti State House of Assembly deputy speaker Segun Adewumi, former state PDP chairman Chief Bola Olu-Ojo, governorship aspirants, former National Assembly members, former state house of assembly members, former local government chairmen and former party officers.

 

Speaking after the meeting, Senator Olujimi explained that Governor Fayose was excluded from the meeting owing to the fact that he had just been released from detention by the EFCC. She added: “We knew what he might have passed through by staying in detention and we know it might not be easy for him to attend this meeting, so there is no faction at all in our party.

 

"My being appointed the leader does not mean there is crisis. The very day he left office was the day he was summoned by EFCC and we knew the rigour he had passed through but we are going to work together and what we are doing is that we don’t want to allow his exit from office to mean the end of PDP in Ekiti."

 

She added that they are on the same page with former Governor Fayose and other stakeholders and shall work hard to ensure that the party wins in next year’s elections. Also, the meeting overturned the suspension of former state party secretary Dr Temitope Aluko, affirming him as a bona fide member of the PDP.

 

Also, the leaders resolved to throw their weight behind the candidacy of former vice president Atiku Abubakar in the 2019 presidential poll and other Ekiti candidates in the general elections.

 

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