Ekiti State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has accused Governor Kayode Fayemi of engaging in a campaign of hatred against its leaders with a view to causing public disaffection against them.
The party also alleged that the governor is wasting scarce state resources on frivolities such as printing and pasting posters of opposition members so that such people would be accused of violating the Electoral Act.
The National Chairman of the party, Mr. Dan Iwuanyanwu, who leveled the allegations during the official inauguration of the Interim State Working Committee of the party in Ado-Ekiti on Monday, also alleged that Fayemi was hell bent on discrediting a leader of the LP in the state, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, by pasting his campaign poster with the logo of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Commenting on the poster that flooded strategic locations in Ado-Ekiti with the inscription, ‘We have finally traced our root”, Iwuanyanwu,, who was represented by his deputy, Joseph Akinlaja, said the action was targetted at causing confusion in the LP and creating the impression that the party was flouting the Electoral Act.
The LP boss said: “The posters they are pasting is to create the impression that Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele has defected to SDP. This was meant to cause confusion on the day of election. But Ekiti people are too educated to fall for this cheap antic. This is to tell you that they are jittery and you have to be bold like a lion to be able to confront these people.
“The APC should desist from playing pranks. They should be civilised enough to play politics without bitterness and rancour. But the price we have to pay is to be vigilant because it is the price of freedom.
“Our party is built on peace. We are not going to be violent. But it will be apt for them to know that violence is not an exclusive right of any party, but it is not good to start violence at all. We are going to embark on issue-based campaign because if you kill to be in any position, the blood of the innocents will cry against you”.
In his reaction, the Director of Media, Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Segun Dipe, described the allegations as misdirected, saying a ruling party could not be pasting the posters of Bamidele, an arch enemy of the APC.
The APC spokesman added that the party would not popularise Bamidele’s inordinate ambition by “associating him with any party. We are more focused and we are getting our members ready for registration that will start soon and that is where our focus is and not on any frivolous issue”.
It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ekiti State, Alhaji Halilu Pai, had last week issued a stern warning that pasting of posters when no INEC was yet to come out with the timetable for the expected governorship election was tantamount to a breach of the Electoral Act and that such would not be tolerated.
Members of the executive include: Chairman, Hon. Akin Omole, Deputy, Mr. Bayo Ayeni, Secretary, Mr. Abiola Olowokere, Treasurer, Mr. Banji Gbenga, Financial Secretary, Mr. Olu Olofin, Organising Secretary, Mr. Gbenga Daramola, Legal Adviser, Mr. Olalekan Olatawura, Publicity Secretary, Mrs. Bolanle Olatunde Bruce, Women Leader, Mrs. Dupe Otun, among others.
Meanwhile, as the people of Ekiti State eagerly await the conduct of the governorship election, a non-political group, the Ekiti Council of Elders, has cautioned political actors in the state against engaging in violence in the interest of peace and unity of the state.
The body, which consists of senior and respectable citizens of the state, also warned politicians against using political tactics to erode the unity and love that has long existed among the citizens of the state.
In a communiqué issued after a meeting held at the residence of the convener of the Forum tagged ‘Ekiti for Peace’, Chief Deji Fasuan in Afao-Ekiti, they regretted the low level of development in Ekiti in spite of high calibre human resources abounding in the state.
The elders lamented the gradual fading of Ekiti dialect, advising parents of Ekiti origins against discouraging their wards from speaking the dialect which they described as a symbol of Ekiti unity.
Present at the occasion were the ex-Governor of old Ondo State, Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua, Justice Edward Ojuolape (rtd), Chief Gabriel Ojo Falegan, former Secretary to the State Government, Chief Bade Gboyega, an ex-INEC National Commissioner, Mrs Tola Ajayi, Chief Francis Daramola, Chairman, Ekiti State Hospitals’ Management Board, Dr Bayo Orire.
The roll-call also included: ex- member of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Chief Segun Ola, Prof O. Omoyeni, Dr Kunle Olajide, Chief Yemi Alade , Pastor Richard Adejuyigbe, Prof P.O. Adetiloye, among others.
In his comment, Olumilua urged politicians to create a platform by which the state could develop through its homogeneity, rather than dividing and fanning the ember of disunity.
“Our citizens, particularly the politicians are the ones dividing us. We expect them to find ways to use the homogeneity among us to further unite us than what we are experiencing now.
“We have to stop killing in the name of politics. People should not see politics as a murderous game, but an instrument that can be used to take us to the level of development that we desire”, Olumilua
advised.
