Fayemi and Adeyeye
Rasaq Ibrahim, Ado-Ekiti
the jostling within the Ekiti State All Progressives Congress (APC) for the state’s ministerial slot in the administration of President Bola Tinubu is tearing the chapter apart. The struggle for the slot has resulted in a political schism. Correspondent RASAQ IBRAHIM reports
After taking his oath of office last Monday, President Bola Tinubu is expected in the next few weeks to announce members of his cabinet. The President-elect must have been assembling his team quietly, following his victory in the February 25 presidential election.
Tinubu who ran on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) had on many occasions given the impression that he would hit the ground running the first day he is inaugurated. It is believed that he will unveil his cabinet within 60 days after being sworn in to drive his ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda.
To this end, the attention of many chieftains of the APC has shifted to the struggle for appointments, especially ministerial positions. As Nigerians wait for the composition of a new Federal Executive Council (FEC), politicians in the Ekiti State chapter of the governing party have been battling one another for slots in Tinubu’s cabinet. The struggle is already tearing the party apart.
For the past few weeks, for instance, politicking within the party has been that of scheming and vitriolic plotting. This has led to the breaking of alliances with erstwhile political allies who are now sworn enemies; because they have been engaged in verbal warfare.
Those in contention for a ministerial slot include the immediate past governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, the National Coordinator of Southwest Agenda for Tinubu 2023 (SWAGA), Senator Dayo Adeyeye, ex-Lagos commissioner for Information, Dele Alake, and the Coordinator of the Tinubu/ Shettima Independent Campaign Council in Ekiti, Prince Akintade Olayisade.
The Patron of the Tinubu Support Organisation in Ekiti, Dr. Adebayo Orire, has also been tipped for a ministerial slot. This is based on the activities of the medical expert. He was instrumental in the landslide victory Tinubu secured in the state.
The gladiators are engaged in blistering lobbying and horse-trading, aimed at not only getting Tinubu’s support, but also close political allies who has the ears of the president. Not only that, they have enlisted Governor Biodun Oyebanji for a recommendation.
It was gathered that Fayemi and Adeyeye were leading the race for the ministerial job. The duo are not leaving anything to chance as they intensified lobbying. Both of them were said to have relocated to Abuja for further leg work. But, political observers insist Alake who hails from Ikoro-Ekiti in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State remains the duo’s greatest challenge because of his closeness to Tinubu.
To this end, the struggle for a ministerial slot has renewed rivalry between Fayemi and Adeyeye as their foot soldiers have resorted to using groups to market and de-market each other, by way of reports in the media. All this has led to a serious cold war within the party.
Since 2019, Adeyeye has been locked in a rift with Fayemi over the alleged roles the latter played in how he was removed from Senate by an Appeal Court judgment, which affirmed that the current senator representing Ekiti South District, Mrs Biodun Olujimi of the PDP won the election.
Adeyeye’s group still believes that the judicial pronouncement was the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob. They insist that the former governor was behind the ex-minister’s sacking. This, they said, was to ease him out of the political space and make him irrelevant ahead of the 2022 governorship poll.
This probably propelled him to team up with aggrieved APC leaders. Since then, the Ise-Ekiti politician has not forgiven Fayemi for the alleged role. The current struggle for the ministerial slot has renewed the old rivalry between them.
While Adeyeye’s supporters feel Tinubu should nominate their boss as a reward for his significant roles in his victory, loyalists of Fayemi contend that their principal should be favoured, considering his rich political experience, competence, pedigree and sacrifice.
A member of Adeyeye’s camp who spoke on condition of anonymity, because she was not authorised to speak on the issue, said Tinubu does not need Fayemi in his cabinet as there are notable stalwarts of the party in Ekiti that would competently promote his interest and add value to his administration.
He said: “As members of SWAGA in Ekiti State, we worked assiduously to ensure the victory of the APC and Bola Tinubu in the last general elections and we remain ever committed and competent enough to continue to ensure the success of the incoming administration.
“We, therefore, advise the President to resist any pressure to appoint Fayemi into his cabinet. Appointing Fayemi will amount to a slight on us because we have not forgotten how the ex-governor deployed the machinery of government to hunt us for promoting your ambition.
“We were neglected and treated like lepers in the party we all labour to build and put into power. Our sin was because we were mobilising support for Asiwaju. Despite victimisations and persecutions, we forged ahead.”
The APC chieftain added that if anybody should be nominated on merit, it must be Adeyeye, who spearheaded the struggle for Tinubu’s ambition. He added: “Adeyeye has worked tirelessly for the President-elect.
“It was Adeyeye in cohort with Oyetunde Ojo that began the movement, even long before he came out to declare his intention. They nurtured it to greatness. We will frown at any move to appoint Fayemi. He cannot reap where he did not sow.
“I think Fayemi has had his fair share of the leadership, having been governor for two terms and minister. There are other people that deserve to get the ministerial slot this time around.”
But one of Fayemi’s loyalists, Mr. Ajayi, said that the former governor deserves the slot because he has paid his dues. He added that Fayemi contributed in no small measure to the development of the APC.
He recalled the significant roles Fayemi played in the just concluded presidential election. The APC stalwart explained that his principal sacrificed his aspiration for Tinubu by stepping down in the overall interest of the Yoruba race and worked hard to deliver Ekiti State for Tinubu.
The APC chieftain said the groundswell of opposition against Fayemi over the slot was not surprising. He added that his traducers were only envious of the former governor’s rising political career.
“The guerrilla media war, therefore, is an offshoot of the frustration encountered by those who were disappointed by how JKF stepped down for Tinubu and went ahead to work with him in the collective interest of not only the Yoruba race but Nigeria as a whole. Because the crisis they anticipated to benefit from didn’t manifest, they have now shifted their attention to a campaign of calumny against Fayemi.
“Surprisingly, none of the verbal attacks on Fayemi can be traced to the PDP or any other party, but the APC. What we have now is Otesowapo within the APC which means we are bonded by hatred. Those elements against Fayemi are bonded by hatred. They are made up of frenemies and enemies within the APC with the sole aim to stop Fayemi at all costs.
“Even when Fayemi handed over to the opposition, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014, he was not harassed, attacked or accused recklessly like this; not because he was a saint back then. The PDP could have played the devil’s advocate when President Buhari wanted to appoint Fayemi as a minister in 2015. The PDP did nothing of such in the best interest of the Ekiti people.
“This needless in-house persecution is uncalled for and will do the perpetrators and Ekiti people, in general, no good. If at the end of the day, Fayemi is given the appointment they so much dread, what are they going to do? Hope they won’t relocate out of Nigeria?”
Reacting to the development, the State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Segun Dipe, said that the alleged tension being created by those interested in the ministerial slot is normal.
He said: “I don’t think there is any tension that is out of question. Normally, if there is going to be a ministerial appointment, there will be jostling, horse-trading and consultation before they arrive at picking a nominee.
“I don’t think anything unnatural is happening in the APC. At the end of the day, it is going to be the decision of the incoming president to choose the candidate for the slot. There will always be consultations here and there and as a result, there will be interests that will be thrown up.
“I can assure you that once the final selection is made, the whole situation will calm down and everyone will accept the outcome. If you say that people are meeting, it is a consultation and until they arrive at the final list, consultations will continue. There will be last-minute horse trading, disappointment and so on. These are natural and not out of place. So, we in the party are not afraid, as the best will emerge. Whoever emerges is our best.”
The Tinubu Support Organisation in Ekiti charged Tinubu to resist pressure to appoint those who would constitute a cog in the wheel of the progress of the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda. The group argued that competence, hard work, loyalty and commitment should be the prerequisites for an appointment.
The group stated that Tinubu rather than just ceding the ministerial slot to those who were indifferent to his presidential ambition should compensate those who worked tirelessly to ensure a resounding victory in building trust for the future.
It said that there was no better time than now for Tinubu to reward its members in Ekiti for their commitment to his course despite alleged persecution and victimisation from a powerful clique within the state chapter of the party.
It recalled how members of the group were allegedly maltreated and labelled enemies for backing Tinubu’s ambition before and after the presidential primary, saying they have done so much for him, therefore, they should be appreciated.
The group noted that it made enough contribution to the party’s success in the election much better than the “enemies pretending to be loyal lieutenant”, adding that they must harvest the fruits of their labour.
It added: “This is a democracy. It is not Tinubu alone that will be there. Other individuals will be appointed into several positions for him to run the government smoothly. And here in TSO, Ekiti State chapter, we have an array of highly qualified, competent and willing people that could be appointed.
“So, we expect the president-elect to look our way, most especially that we faced preponderance of man-made challenges including victimisation, discrimination, persecution and hunting when we were doing his work
“We hope this coming administration will be a departure from the past. We expect our labour, hard work, commitment and efforts towards the victory of the party to be adequately compensated.”
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