Fayemi, Ojudu bicker over alleged violation of APC Constitution

As the battle for the soul of the All Progressives Congress (APC) rages in many states, another battle seems to be brewing in the Ekiti State chapter of the party as the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Senator Babafemi Ojudu has accused the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, of violating the APC constitution by appointing his allies to multiple positions.

However, Governor Fayemi has disputed Ojudu’s allegation, saying that he is very alive to his responsibilities to Ekiti people and prioritising the future of Ekiti youth, which is the reason he was re-elected in 2018.

Ojudu who made the allegation at a session with journalists in Ado Ekiti at the weekend, cited how the executive members of Ekiti APC at the state, local government and ward levels were appointed in a private residence in Iyin Ekiti without a recourse to the constitution of the ruling party.

He justified the court action instituted against the process that produced the APC executive members at the state, local government and ward level in the state, saying the litigants had exhausted all the avenues to resolve the matter.

Ojudu claimed that since this illegality was committed, the litigants “have been calling on them to retrace their steps, be inclusive and let their action be guided by law. But they said we should go to hell. We complained loudly and got lawyers to write to the APC National Headquarters.

READ ALSO: I have no other political aspiration after 2023 -Masari

“We exhausted all avenues to resolve the matter. But we were ignored. There was no congress. What happened was arranged. It took us this long to go to court because our constitution prescribed some steps that should be taken before a matter affecting the party could be taken to court.

“We took our time to go through all the steps and this took a lot of time. Taking this action is also not about the governorship election. It is a wakeup call to Fayemi, the party and our leaders both at the local and national levels that things are not going well here.

“If he comes up in 2022 and brings a candidate, will it be the only one who will campaign for him then? If what is happening now continues, will you call me to come and campaign for a candidate brought up by him in 2022?”

He also alleged that Fayemi violated the APC constitution by appointing his political associates to serve in multiple offices simultaneously at state and federal levels while some party patriots in the office could not get anything.

He said there “are people who are commissioners who are holding board appointments at the national level. There are members of the House of Representatives as lawmakers, who were appointed to boards at the federal level.

 “How can you give one person three appointments when we have our educated party members roaming the streets without one single appointment? One individual will be a commissioner here, he will be on the board of two other agencies or departments in Abuja,” Ojudu explained.

But in a statement by Fayemi’s Senior Special Assistant on Party Matters, Mr. Sam Oluwalana described the allegations of dictatorship and abuse of powers raised against him “as mere selfish and fault-finding claims.”

He said Fayemi “has been carrying all the party members along and never breached the statute regarding appointments or favouring anyone at the expense of others.

“Our attention has been drawn to a distasteful allegation where Ojudu insinuated that the Fayemi administration had not recorded any achievements especially in the area of industrialisation and youth empowerment.”

The statement said it was curious that such would be a priority for a presidential aide in the midst of this global pandemic that Nigeria is trying to control.

The statement noted that Ojudu’s claims came at the wrong time when the state recently reported a positive case of Coronavirus infection.

Unlike Ojudu, the statement noted that protecting the lives of Ekiti people “is more important to the governor at this crucial time than to join issues with Ojudu on his political journey to perdition.