Babafemi Ojudu, an adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on political matters, and some other members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State have reacted to alleged plans to suspend them by the party.
The members in a joint statement issued on Sunday, said they have given their best at different times to building the party through hard times and would not want APC to suffer a reversal of fortunes in Ekiti.
While communicating their grievances to the newly constituted caretaker committee of the party at the national level, they alleged that Governor Kayode Fayemi has jettisoned the collective efforts of the members since he was re-elected in 2018.
“This travesty was committed deliberately to completely ostracise people out of the party activities and today that is what has become the rule and not the exemption.
“In almost two years, the party had not convened any political meeting of stakeholders, no new membership drive, no political activity whatsoever to rev up and consolidate the place and presence of the party in the state since inception of this administration till date. Instead of growth, the membership of the party is dwindling by the day.
“Indeed the more visible, the more the orchestrated efforts to hack the person down in a harvest of suspension. Today the following persons have been suspended or in the process of suspension: Senator Tony Adeniyi, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Congressman Bimbo Daramola, Honourable Oyetunde Ojo, Honourable Akogun Bunmi Ogunleye, Chief Ben Oguntuase, Mr Dele Afolabi and Diran Fadipe.”
The statement was signed by 15 APC leaders including Mr Ojudu and those whom the Ekiti APC allegedly suspended or planned to suspend as stated in the preceding paragraph.
The aggrieved members alleged that many commissioners serving with the state are still holding federal political positions, and those in the National Assembly are holding federal board positions.
They said this has denied several other members of the Ekiti APC, who contributed to the growth of the party, opportunities to serve in government positions.
They also challenged Mr Fayemi to list, with pictures, tangible projects undertaken in two years and the amount of money collected over that period from the Federation Account.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic broke, doctors in the employment of the state government were about to down tools until well meaning people intervened… Our doctors had less than 50 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the entire state.”
“At the beginning of the administration, the state government announced a recruitment scheme for young unemployed Ekiti people the application for this jobs attracted the payment of N1500 per applicant. We challenge the state government today to make public how much was collected and how many people have been successfully employed from that scheme. It is an albatross on party members.”
“Ekiti people are desirous of knowing how many hospitals and schools have been built or renovated in two years, rather the Government of Kayode Fayemi would prefer to commit 1billion Naira to the renovation or rebuilding of sale of Ekiti State Governor and Deputy Governor’s lodge located on T.Y Danjuma Street Asokoro in Abuja that nobody stays in! The opposition party has challenged the government to publish the facts against the documents in their possession. Till date no explanations ”
Efforts to contact the APC director of media in the state, Sam Oluwalana, were unsuccessful. He could not be reached on his known telephone number.
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