Eddy Olafeso, immediate zonal chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, South-West, has revealed that there was an agreement on second term for him and his executives.
In an interview with Nigerian Tribune, the Ondo-born politician, confirmed that the PDP in the zone is divided along Seyi Makinde and Ayo Fayose lines.
Makinde is governor of Oyo while Fayose is immediate past governor of Ekiti.
Asked which group he belongs to, he said “For sure, ex-Governor Fayose supported me in my first tenure; he fought side by side with us. He stood for the party and did everything when there was nobody to fight for PDP. For the two years that we are in court, he never left our side and never took a decision one day that was for himself except for the development of the party.
“When this position came and we had a meeting at the residence of the governor of Oyo State, and I told him I was going to contest for governorship of Ondo State and he said; ‘no problem; if you’re able to win, we will support you but if not, just come back and take your position because you have performed creditably well for the party in the two years you have served as the zonal chairman.’ And we left the place.
“There was a committee set up really that insisted that the existing zonal structure should be left the way it is, so that we can return and complete our two-term tenure, bring stability and coherence into the zone. But suddenly, things started changing without carrying all of us along. Our constitution is clear as to the calling of caucus meetings and those that are supposed to attend such meetings.
“But the governor decided to carefully select some people to attend and those of us that have constitutional rights to attend were left behind, that was the breaking point. You cannot take a decision on the position I am occupying without being in that meeting to say one or two things, no matter the circumstances having served for two years. And we have a better and superior knowledge of how to manage the zone much more than anybody else.
“So, for me, I belong to the Ayodele Fayose group and we are looking as much as possible to ensuring a quick resolution between Governor Fayose and Governor Seyi Makinde so that the two can work together with other leaders and bring peace to the party in south west.
“I want you to believe me that it’s not worth it for anybody to grandstand in politics because nobody wins alone. All of us must work together to attain success and the reason we failed before is the fact that there is so much division.
“We must be careful of what we do and what we say so that we don’t fall in to the same trap again and the APC will come from behind and decapitate that opportunity for us. So for me, Fayose remains our leader; he’s my leader. You will recollect that Fayose was a governor when Dr Olusegun Agagu, of blessed memory, was the governor of Ondo State.
“We were special advisers, government people, serving the five PDP governors then: Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Gbenga Daniel, Adebayo Alao Akala, Olusegun Agagu and Ayodele Fayose. They were all our leaders, so Ayodele Fayose is my leader. I believe in him and I know he has the love of the party at heart and he fought while there was nobody there to stand and fight for the party,” he explained.
On why the Fayose group rejected the reconciliation committee headed by Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former governor of Osun, Olafeso said that “it has to be rejected because it was the friends of Governor Seyi Makinde that actually put together that committee, not the South-West caucus. That is the reason we are not there when the decision was taken. Oyinlola is my brother, a leader. We respect him as an individual but by taking that position, it is like he has taken sides in a situation where he should have been the godfather that will settle the matter. So, as far as we are concerned, we thank God that the National Working Committee (NWC) set up a reconciliation committee under Senator Bukola Saraki, a former president of the Senate and we are relating with that the committee. We have been to Abuja to speak with them and they are happy we are seeking peace. We are interested in peace, despite the blackmail; despite all the lies and untrue things that they put in place here. Our party is diminishing in Ondo State; we must do something to bring everybody together so that we can have a bigger opportunity and platform that every one of us can work together to unseat the APC government.
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