South-West Congress: Makinde Looks Quiet, But Deadly – Fayose

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose says there is more than meets the eyes when it comes to the issue of Governor Seyi Makinde and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West.

Fayose who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today was of the opinion that while Governor Makinde looks quiet, he is deadly.

The former Ekiti state governor’s comment was in reaction to a viral video that showed some thugs threatening to kill him (Fayose) if he attends the PDP congress which recently held in Osun State.

According to Fayose, the thugs who were making the threats were associated with Governor Makinde of Oyo State.

“I have seen this video, what this gentleman was saying at the time, they came to the venue saying we are waiting for you here, we are going to kill you.

“This is the chairman of the road transport workers in Oyo State, this people came with Governor Makinde’s convoy… Everybody knows.

“This is enough to show the whole world if Governor Makinde, a first-time 2-year old governor, yet to be 2-year-old governor is parading characters like this, it simply shows the kind of people behind him,” the former governor stated.

When confronted with the fact that the video also shows the character and quality of the people in the PDP, Fayose said it is shameful, stressing that thuggery is disgraceful for the party.

Fayose further alleged that the same thugs recently came to attack him in Ondo State. “These same people came to Ondo and I told Governor Makinde, so I am glad the whole world is seeing this, Governor Makinde you look quiet but deadly” the former governor asserted.

Speaking further, Fayose said the thugs being paraded were over a thousand, adding that their threats made him make up his mind to attend the South-West Congress regardless of the consequences.

The former Ekiti State governor who noted that the thugs fled upon his arrival, said such a development is not right for Nigeria and the PDP, adding that such is condemnable.

Dead people were accredited

Speaking on PDP’s South-West Zonal Vice Chairmanship election, Fayose alleged that dead people were accredited during the South-West Peoples Democratic Party congress held in Osun State on Monday.

Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, the candidate backed by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, got 343 votes to emerge the new South-West Zonal Vice Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, beating Fayose’s candidate – Dr Eddy Olafeso, who scored 330.

Insisting that the election was rigged, Fayose explained that a former Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mulikat Adeola-Akande, identified those that were dead and sick on the accreditation list.

“We compelled them to announce publicly how many people were accredited. They resisted that and said they will announce state-by-state. The norm is for you to announce accreditation and tell us how many people came and how many votes are expected.

“By the accreditation, they initially said Oyo state had 115 people list, 104 accredited. Out of 104, 82 people voted. At the end of the exercise, the accreditation was 675, publicly announced.

“Ekiti voted first, followed by Ogun, Lagos, Osun then they purposely allowed Oyo to vote last.

“When you look at the alphabet, you will realise that a game was obviously going on.

“In Oyo, they told us 177 were listed. Hon Mulikat protested and said, ‘this man is dead, this man is dead, this man is dead, this man is sick, this one is abroad, this one is aged’. They came back and told us 165. This is the game going on in the entire process.”

Fayose who stated that he raised these objections when the irregularities were noticed, however, said that his camp chose to overlook rigging because he was not ready to defect to another party.

“I have accepted this result not because they won but because I am one of the people that can’t defect to another party.

“I have conceded, I conceded not because they won. I conceded because the PDP is a bigger picture. I want to say that conceding does not amount to defeat, it is sheer exhibiting leadership,” he explained.