Oyo PDP cautions Fayose against ‘needless tussle’ with Makinde 

The Publicity Secretary, Akeem Olatunji, told The Nation last night that besides that the party’s constitution conferred leadership on the elected officer of highest rank, Fayose enjoyed the same privilege as the leader of Southwest during his tenure as the only PDP governor in the Southwest.

He recalled that during Fayose’s leadership of the region as the only PDP governor, he picked national and Southwest officials of the party without any fuss.

Olatunji was reacting to a parallel meeting held by members of Fayose’s faction in Lagos last Friday where two committees were set up and zonal executive positions zoned to each of the six states of Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Lagos, Ogun and Ekiti. The meeting duplicated the decisions taken at the meeting held at the Oyo State Government House under the leadership of Governor Makinde, the only PDP governor in the Southwest, last Wednesday.

Olatunji said: “There’s no crisis in PDP as far as the Southwest organ of the party is concerned. The constitution of PDP is very clear that the highest ranked elected official is the overall leader either at the ward, local government, state, region or national level.

“It is very important to note that former governor Ayo Fayose enjoyed same privilege as he singlehandedly fixed all the national and Southwest party officials allocated to all the states, but we have a magnanimous personality in Governor Makinde who chose not to follow the path of dictatorship adopted by Mr. Fayose when he was in charge.”

Commenting on members of the party in Oyo State who attended the Fayose’s factional meeting in Lagos, the spokesman said their case was irrelevant because “it was a private visit that has nothing to do with our great party.”

Fayose has been at loggerheads with Makinde over control of the party structure. While he enjoys followership of four of the six states chairmen, those of Oyo and Ondo are with Makinde.