The People’s Democratic Party Acting Chairman, Ekiti State, Lanre Omolase, has disclosed that the former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose and the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike are aggrieved with the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
Goldennewsng reports that Lanre also disclosed that the state PDP lost the June governorship election because of the internal crisis that rocked the state party.
Speaking in an interview, Lanre said though the two stakeholders of the PDP are aggrieved with Atiku Abubakar, he was sure they would both work for the candidate come 2023 general election.
Recall that our medium had reported that Fayose had said that he stood with the constitution the party that power should come to the South, but was disappointed with the decision of the party to give Atiku the presidential ticket.
Also, Governor Wike of Rivers State at an event in PortHarcourt advised Atiku supporters and the National Working Committee of the PDP not to blame if Atiku loses the 2023 election.
Chief Lanre reacting to the statement of Fayose above said, “If Governor Fayose said that, that is his personal view and it should be a reaction to a particular thing.
“That Wike is annoyed today does not mean that Wike is not a PDP member. He has told us that he is not leaving the PDP. He will work for Atiku. He is only aggrieved, and it is normal for individuals to be aggrieved.”
He added that “When things are resolved, then he will tow the line of the party. They are meeting now to resolve the issues. Nobody in the PDP is doing any other thing; Wike is not contesting Atiku’s candidacy.”
The acting state chairman of PDP in Ekiti said they were not happy with the loss of the PDP at the June governorship election which he blamed on internal crisis within the party.
He further stated that some of the party members did not use the resources shared for the election to mobilize voters.
He said the internal rivalry within the party was a result of some party members alleging that the Bisi Kolawole regime would be an extension of Fayose.
“We are not happy about it. It was painful because we worked assiduously to win the election. But what happened, particularly the movement of former governor Segun Oni and others from the party, contributed hugely to our failure,” he said.
He added, “Again, some of those who stayed back in the party, who called themselves aggrieved, used the resources distributed to mobilize for the party to work against the party. That is why we had that type of result.
“But the people thought that if Bisi Kolawole won the election, it would be an extension of Fayose’s government, forgetting that Fayose had nothing to ask from Kolawole as he had told us.
“As it is, do we have anything to share from zero? No, that was the mistake they made. Instead of us working together to win that election, they worked against the candidate, believing that Kolawole was Fayose’s candidate and not a PDP candidate.”