The Nation Newspaper

Tag: political jobbers

  • Political jobbers endorsed Atiku, says Fasanmi

    NONAGENARIAN Afenifere leader Pa Ayo Fasanmi broke his silence yesterday on the reported endorsement of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar by some groups, including a faction of the pan-Yoruba organisation led by Chief Reuben Fasoranti.

    The Second Republic Senator spoke at the 12,000-capacity Ekiti Parapo Pavilion, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, where the All Progressives Congress (APC) held a rally for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole dismissed the Fasoranti-led group as “fake”, recalling how Yoruba leaders stood their ground against former military Head of State Gen. Sani Abacha and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    Oshiomhole said: “Pa Ayo Fasanmi, Chief Bisi Akande and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who conquered the Ota farmer in 2003 and 2007 political battle, are the authentic Afenifere who have been elected by the people of Yoruba land.

    “As we speak today, we are proud that those who can speak as representatives, not self-proclaimed or self-appointed of the Yoruba nation are the governors who are all seated.

    “They were elected by the people of Yoruba race to guide the present to the future on behalf of the Yoruba people.”

    Senator Fasanmi described the Reuben Fasoranti-led faction of the group, which endorsed Atiku, as political jobbers, who shouldn’t be ignored.

    He was echoed by former Osun State governor and former APC interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande.

    Pa Fasanmi said: “All Yoruba race across Southwest are solidly supporting the President Buhari candidature, except a group of dollar and naira called fake Afenifere who endorsed Atiku Abubakar.

    “They are people with no electoral value and credence in their respective polling units not to talk of the Yoruba land.

    “By the grace of God, come March 6 when we would be celebrating 110 years post-humous birthday of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, we would also be celebrating the victory of President Buhari and other APC candidates at the national and state levels.”

     

  • Ajomale: Defectors from APC are political jobbers

    Former Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Lagos State Otunba Oladele Ajomale spoke with SINA FADARE on the gale of defections from the party and the preparations for next year’s polls.

    You are the former Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Lagos State.  What were the challenges?

    There are a lot of challenges. When you get there, you are to look at the welfare of the party members as a first step and you monitor the ward and know what is going on there. If there is any problem, you quickly tackle it by involving party members who are not in that zone so that he or she will be neutral and be able to say it the way it should be.

    Some of the challenges range from looking for money to run the party to running after your members to contribute money for the party. Otherwise, you may not get anywhere. You have to prepare for any election that may come up at any time, the normal and sudden one in case someone died. Apart from that, the party members contacted you for many things, those who want to pay school fees, those who have just lost their fathers, those who have just been sent out of their rented apartment.

    They all expect you to solve these problems day in day out. As a leader, you have to attend to them and solve them. Apart from this there are a lot of meetings, both at the ward level and national to attend to. As a chairman of the state, you are an automatic member of the NEC. Once a while NEC meetings is called to resolve pertinent issues.

    You must be ready to solve disputes that may arise any time within the party. When you leave a problem lingering for so long, then, you find out that it becomes a monster and developed into a crisis, when it does, it is difficult for you to manage it.  My style is to tackle it immediately it surface and settle it once and for all. That is why you find little problems arising from conflicts in the party.

    In spite of the challenges, Lagos State is the most stable and progressive, in terms of service delivery to the people. What is the magic?

    You must have the attitude of getting all the reports from the wards to the local governments and anywhere there is conflict, I quickly moved there to nip it in the bud. If you do not monitor what is going on when it bust out, you are in trouble. So, what l do in most cases  is to make sure l get it at my fingertips what is going on in all the wards and the local governments in the state, by so doing it make things easier for me.

    How are you able to survive the power play?

    There is always power play everywhere, even in the churches, but l know how to play my game. I have an understanding leader, that is Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and other leaders of the party in the state. They have never given me any problems. Asiwaju is just like a family and always ready to assist the party. Any one that l cannot solve, l run to him. He may select other elders in the party to go with me to tackle the crisis at hand. He has a large heart and ready any day any time to listen to me.

    Sometimes, it is the leadership that creates the problem. So, when l get there, I lay my claim on the table and l pick somebody from other zone to follow me to solve the problem. That one will be neutral and will be ready to call a spade a spade. In my experience in life, l am versed in dispute resolution and  coupled with my background as a lawyer, l was able to develop a model that has assisted me a lot to go far and solved a lot of problems in the party that do not get to the public.

    For 12 years, we have been doing it with a good result. l am expecting the new chairman to fine tune this and inject a lot of innovations that will assist the party to continue to achieve the best in its future enterprise.

    What do you think make the party teak, despite the odds?

    I will say the major key factor is sincerity. The more you are sincere with your members, the better for you. If you see anything black, call it black not white. If we do not have money, l will tell them that we have no money and let us wait for a while. I make sure that when the money comes l used it to settle the most urgent on our priority list.

    Asiwaju Tinubu has the ability to identify talents. At what point did you cross each other’s path?

    Yes, he has that ability; you can only give that to him. I met him in 1989 when he was not even a politician. He was in Mobil Oil as Chief Accountant and my brother worked with him. We met and our chemistry just worked together. We are in the same group called Primose, within the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He came out to contest into the  Senate. l have my chamber around Mushin area then. We are challenging Alhaji Lattef Jakande. The Lagos West was a verse area that covered areas like Mushin, lkeja, Ajegunle and Badagry.

    I asked him if he could cope and he told me that he has some friends around those areas and l joined him. That was how we started. We know he cannot give us anything, but for prestige purpose, we worked for him. Our group must just get it because we had other groups, though in the same party, the SDP.

    In the primary, we were able to defeat the Ase group and in the real election, that day was serious; rain everywhere, we were drenched to our pants, including women. We stayed on the line and when the votes  were eventually counted, we won. It was easy because when you see Asiwaju, you cannot but like him. He is a straight forward person. When he says he is your friend, he is, without any reservation. He cannot betray you, in fact he preferred you betraying him rather than him betraying you.

    I know that over the years he is a man that l can trust. He cannot for any reason leave you in the cold, very dependable and trust worthy. Even when he was forced to go to exile, we continue to work and give him reports of happening at home. When he came back and he said he wanted to be governor, we went to primaries again with the same group and we won.  Alhaji Dawodu put up Funso Williams, who happened to be a family friend, but this was politics, we eventually won at the larger election. Asiwaju gave us the needed foundation and that is why others are building on it. That is why Lagos is progressing.

    What is your reaction to the recent defection of members of your party in the National Assembly to the PDP?

    We know from day one when they came into the party, that they do not have the interest of Nigerians at heart. They were trying to create their own nest, somewhere like a bird. They are used to sharing of money in a situation where thousands of Nigerians have no job. The government is creating avenue to tackle those problem, we have graduates that are roaming about the street, yet you are thinking about yourself alone.

    They are complaining that they were not given this or that appointment. At what stage? Instead of them to sit back at home and let the younger generation come up and take those appointments.  They are used to getting free money in the PDP, but could not find such opportunity in the APC. That is why they are not comfortable. So, they have to go to where it is business as usual.

    They got the Senate President seat and that of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and some others appointments. Four years is too short for you to agitate if you have the love of Nigerians at heart. But they are used to getting free money and when that one was not forth coming, they have to defect. Whereas the President is waging a serious war on corruption. They do not share such a vision, but just to share everything that is available.

    It cannot be business as usual. Nigerians are not fools. So, let them go to where they belong. They want to loot the country at the detriment of all Nigerians; many of them are broke and cannot get money to steal anymore because the president did not give them the opportunity of stealing any money. That is why they are back to where they belong and want to plunge the country back again.

    How are we sure that these people are not the one that is creating a lot of problems and incessant killings that we are experiencing so that the country will not be governable for the President because they do not see anything to chop? To me, their going is good radiance so that we know how many of us remaining. Even, if they’re re-branding, they are still the same set of people, Nigerians are watching. They are not threat to the APC.

     

  • No rift with my successor, says Akpabio

    No rift with my successor, says Akpabio

    Former Akwa Ibom governor and Senate minority leader, Godswill Akpabio has quell any inkling of a quarrel between him and his successor, Emmanuel Udom.

    Akpabio said the perceived rift remains in the imagination of political jobbers who want to fan the ember of disunity in the state.

    He also lampooned those who said they were out to protect the governor’s mandate, describing them as fair weather friends who want to eat where they have not sown.

    The former governor spoke at the weekend in Abuja at the 50th birthday celebration of the Special Adviser to the governor on Security matters, Captain Iniobong Ekong (rtd).

    Both men described the retired army captain as a loyal and dependable hand, whose word is his bond.

    Governor Udom was represented by the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Uwemedimo Nwoko.

    Akpabio whose choice of words showed his disapproval of any form of division amongst his political allies said those representing the state at the National Assembly are fully behind the governor and will stand by him to the end.

    He was also quick to remind those that cares to listen that when Governor Udom was thrown up, the plan was that he will do two terms and that arrangement according to him has not changed.

    The Senate minority leader therefore said it was a shame that those who benefitted from his generosity while in office as governor are now the ones trying to create division in the state, calling some people Akpabio boys and another Udom boys. He also predicted that these same people will soon decamp to other party before 2018.

    He said “please tell the governor that I said in the public, there is no shaking and that the three senators and ten members of the House of Representatives, are solidly behind him.

    “Tell the governor that we love him and he should not listen to slanders and blackmails, that the state is intact for him and that we are proud of what he is doing.

    “The thirteen of us will remain steadfast with him beyond 2019.”

    He stressed that the mandate given to the governor was for two terms; we support what the governor is doing “we are not disappointed of him.”

    Akpabio also urged the people of Akwa Ibom to keep faith with the governor and support him to succeed; adding that though Nigerian economy is presently on a life support, the governor he said had done very well.  

    The representative of the governor in his remark said that nobody amongst his former aides will embarrass him.

    Nwoko also assured his former boss of his readiness to protect him from any form of embarrassment.

  • Edo 2016: Owan people will vote Obaseki – Ihonvbere

    Edo 2016: Owan people will vote Obaseki – Ihonvbere

    The Secretary to Edo state Government and Iyase (Prime Minister) of lluleha kingdom, in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo state, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere has faulted reports that Owan people have vowed not to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) if the lluleha-Uzebba road was not constructed before the election.

    He said the comments were being made by political jobbers in the area who don’t “even know the difference between politics of development and that of the stomach.  That is just the figment of their imagination because Owan West particularly lulleha has been APC and will continue to be APC.

    “Regarding the road they are talking about, We are thankful that the road has been awarded to a credible contractor and the state government has mobilize the contractor and work is ongoing now. And to be honest, there is no way that road will be completed in the life span of the current administration.

    “But the good news is that Obaseki has visited the area and he understands the terrain and he has promised that if the road is not completed by November he will complete it. Obaseki’s mother is from Uzebba and he cannot abandon his people. Most of us were in PDP for years infact PDP spent ten years but they never poured a sand in that place, so why will people in the name of politics try to exhibit ingratitude to a government that at least had made effort to construct that road.

    “Apart from the fact that I am SSG, I am the Iyasele of lluleha so nobody knows my area more than me. These comments are coming from hungry characters who want to blackmail the APC but they have failed. The Local Government is an APC Local Government we have always done well there and there is nothing stopping us from defeating the PDP and their sponsors in this area. PDP cannot point at anything they have done for our people all they do is to sponsor some idle persons but they are wasting their time,” he stated.

     

  • Fasheun, Gani Adams, others are political jobbers, says UPN

    Fasheun, Gani Adams, others are political jobbers, says UPN

    The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) has disowned its  National Chairman, Chief Fredrick Fasheun,  for endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Speaking  through its Ogun State gubernatorial candidate,  Prince Rotimi Paseda, and the National Organising Secretary, Dr.Ola Olateju, the party said “the endorsement represents the opinion of Dr.Fasheun and not that of the party.”

    “Dr Fasheun is not representing the party. He is on his own and he can never force any candidate down the throat of the party,” Prince  Paseda said.

    He said: “The party is not ready to work either with the APC or the PDP because the two candidates are the same.

    “Their common ideology does not represent that of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. I’m an Awoist to the core. I’m ready to implement the UPN’s free education programme at all levels in Ogun State, among other programmes.”

    The UPN gubernatorial candidate, who described the policies of the incubent governor of Ogun State as too elitist, also promised to run a government with human face, if elected into the office.

    Dr Ola Olateju said Frederick Fasheun, Gani Adams, Ayo Adebanjo, Senator Femi Okunronmu and the entire Afenifere leadership only expressed their personal opinions on President Jonathan which did not translate into the common preference of the Yoruba.

    Recently, the National Chairman of the UPN, Dr.Fredrick Fasheun, Gani Adams, Dr. Kunle Olajide of Yoruba Unity Group, Yinka Odumakin and others met in Ondo State to endorse  President  Jonathan and insist on the the implementation of the National Conference report.

     

  • Of pseudo intellectuals and political jobbers

    It is the season of elections. Pseudo intellectuals seeking national attention have intensified their game of misinformation to mislead the youths and the uninformed. One such crooked thesis that gained currency in recent times is equating the alliance between the South-west dominant ACN and Buhari’s northern dominant CPC which produced APC with Akintola’s appeal to Ahmadu Bello and by extension NPC to avoid sanctions by the Western Region ruling AG after the party’s 1962 Jos convention. Of course the other fraudulent claim by political jobbers is demonizing APC, the product of the alliance, as an Islamic party with a mission to islamise the South-west.

    If Akintola had committed any crime at all, it was probably his rigging of the 1965 regional election which ran counter to the age-long culture of the Yoruba people to freely elect their leaders long before Britain introduced liberal democracy to Nigeria. His appeal to external forces to escape justice and hold on to power was not in itself a crime. He was like many other Yoruba leaders a victim of a common Yoruba affliction captured in one of their idioms as “Kaka ki eku ma je sese, a fi se awa danu” (which can mean if your value is not recognized, you can make yourself relevant by becoming a threat to the system). Professor Adebayo Williams, an eminent Yoruba scholar has found an elegant way to capture this unhealthy syndrome ‘the feeling of self-worth’.

    It can therefore be said in their defence that  the fault was not in their stars but in the Yoruba cosmology which justifies every misadventure of leaders as arising from their destiny (ayanmo) every individual brought from Olodumare  This destiny, according to Yoruba philosophy, is guided during trajectory  through life by regular sumptuous sacrifices to Esu ’the enforcer who controls both the benevolent and the malevolent”.  Remi Oyeyemi The revenge of Ajayi Crowther}  In other words ‘those  the gods want to destroy’, they first made mad’. When Yoruba leaders become too powerful and like the falcon refused to listen to the falconer, all that is done by the people is to keep on beating the talking drum lazed with praise lyrics until such leaders discovered they are dancing alone and naked to wit. At this point they are often left with only one choice-commit suicide just as Sango, the tyrannical ruler, deified as god of thunder did in fulfilment of his ‘ayanmo’.

    Between 1962 and 1966 when the end finally came for Akintola, neither his followers nor the Yoruba leaders had the courage to remind him he was wrong to have imposed himself in defiance of the peoples wishes and culture. He was hailed by sycophants who bellowed in unison ‘Owo ti wo eku ida, o ku babanla eniti o yo” literarily meaning Akintola having acquired power irrespective of the mode of its acquisition cannot be challenged.). The leaders, with straight face went around selling Akintola’s dubious terms of settlement. He insisted on the dissolution of AG, a national party along his newly formed NNDP to give way to a new party that would then endorse him as premier. Awo had quipped, AG is a national party, if it were his name, he wouldn’t mind changing it to Obafemi Balewa to be released from unjust incarceration.

    The federal government’s terms for Awo’s release were no less dubious. Awo’s wife would visit the Prime Minister privately in an unmarked car and camouflaged in an unusual dress to beg Balewa. (Awo wondered whether his wife was to kneel down or prostrate while begging the Prime Minister privately when Yoruba peacemakers took the proposal to him in his Calabar prison). Then the federal government sent a sponsored delegation of Yoruba elders committee made up of Rev S. O. Odutola, Rev Cannon R A Falode, Alhaji A. W. Elias, Chief A. E. Adeyemo and Dr Abiola Akerele. They went in a federal chartered air craft. Their mission: to stop arson, maiming and general insecurity, Awo should temporarily step out of the prison to publicly embrace Akintola to be followed with a joint statement appealing to the people to embrace peace. (Awo asked whether he was to appear in his prison attire for the photo show and also return to the prison while Akintola continued his illegal occupation of government house (Awo: My March Through Prison). Akintola was in good company. In the contemporary times, powerful Bola Ige took the Yoruba from PDP to APP and then AD. And when he also unilaterally decided to take them back to PDP, no one protested. Powerful newspaper columnists with large following refused to criticize Ige because “he was uncle Bola Ige”. By the time Ige discovered the Yoruba had left him, it was too late.

    To reduce the above Yoruba unhealthy syndrome to conflicts over ideological orientation amount to a fraudulent intellectual enterprise. In any case, a critical analysis of the Yoruba outlook to life clearly shows there is a consensus among them as to how development and progress are measured in their communities. They dream the same dreams and perceive identical apparitions. Akintola like Afonja was driven by a sense of self-worth not by conflict over ideological orientation. .So was Fani-Kayode an equivalent of modern day ‘Serubawon’ of Osun, Isiaka Adeleke. He had set up a militant youth wing of AG to intimidate Yoruba detractors but to prove his relevance after two successive electoral misfortunes in Ife and his party’s decision to take sides with the Ooni of Ife he had tried to upstage, he joined NCNC and later NNDP where he became a deputy premier. Osuntokun’s action as we have seen, was dictated by a sense of self-worth following the failure of his party to address his protest. Even Obasanjo the self-styled godfather of PDP suffered from this Yoruba syndrome. It was for this reason he would boast of having achieved on a platter of gold, the prize Awo had unsuccessfully fought for while he Obasanjo was a mere barefooted secondary school pupil, berated Abiola who had secured a pan Nigeria mandate, saying he, Abiola was not the messiah Nigeria was waiting for, and after endless taunting by Fela who regarded soldiers as unthinking ‘zombies’, sent unknown soldiers to sack his ‘Kalakuta Republic’.

    It is therefore sheer mischief for politicians to draw a parallel between current developments and the events of 1962 -1965. It is also obvious the alignment of ACN and CPC to form APC was not borne out of the usual desperation of leaders trying to establish their relevance. Whereas Akintola, Fani-Kayode or even Ige appealed to external forces in order to cut their noses to spite their faces, the ACN joined the alliance as equal partner. Our youths must also be told that Awo, the unrepentant federalist had nothing against the Hausa-Fulani other than his insistence the Yoruba would not play the second fiddle in the affairs of the nation. If Ahmadu Bello and the northern feudal lords hated him with a passion, it was because they abhorred his attempt to export democracy to the north while encouraging in the process the uprising of the minorities.

    AS 2015 approaches, it is important to remind ourselves that political jobbers who have nothing to offer the Yoruba people would intensify fraudulent intellectual analysis about our ethnic relations while Christian crusaders without the spirit of Christ will continue to create fears among a people acclaimed for their religious tolerance and accommodation of strangers as Akintola unsuccessful did in 1964 and 1965. In this regards, two recent historical facts are lost in those spreading message of hate. MKO Abiola, a Yoruba Muslim with a Kanuri Muslim running mate, won a landslide victory in all the Hausa-Fulani states of the north including Kano, the home of Tofa, his NRC opponent in 1993. And as we have been recently reminded by General Alabi Isama, (rtd), the Igbo and the Hausa-Fulani, publicly sworn enemies that once plunged the nation into civil war, have jointly ruled the country since independence.

  • ‘No place for political jobbers in APC’

    ‘No place for political jobbers in APC’

    Alhaji Mai Mala Buni is the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview, he reflects on the Ekiti State governorship election. He also speaks about the party’s preparations for  next year’s polls. Correspondent DUKU JOEL met him.

    How is the APC preparing for the next year’s elections?

    You will recall that some parties went into merger to produce what is now the All Progressives Congress (APC). The essence of this merger is to have a strong and committed political party that will save Nigeria and to give the country a purposeful leadership that will improve the lives of Nigerians. The parties made a lot of sacrifices, in their bid to give birth to a modern Nigeria.

    Nigeria is blessed with rich human and natural resources, which unfortunately had not been properly harnessed and utilised for the benefit of Nigerians. Nigeria suffers maladministration and general inefficiency. This has made life extremely difficult for the citizenry.

    In fact, Nigerians deserve to have a better lifestyle than what we have today. Sadly, other countries with less human and natural resources are better off than our dear country, and this is due to ineffective administration and the mismanagement of resources.

    Therefore, the APC is built on a passion for socio-economic transformation that will save the country from the economic doldrums, social instability and the general insecurity that has bedeviled it.  The APC is a Nigerian project that has the interest of every single Nigerian. We are committed to building a lasting peace and securing the lives and properties of the citizenry across the length and breadth of this country. We are also committed establishing service delivery, accountability and transparency in governance and enthroning true democracy where the voice of the people is not only heard, but respected.

    So, with seven months to the next election, we are concentrating on building a strong united party, a party that gives every member equal opportunity, a party that will exploit the best potentials and produce the best leadership this country will ever have to provide Nigerians with the change they have been yearning for.

    How does your party intend to achieve what you think the ruling PDP has not achieved?

    If you look at the manifesto of the APC, it has a clearly defined goals and approach towards governance and infrastructural development than what we have had in the last 15 years. You will agree with me that internal democracy, which is a basic tenet of democracy, has been absent in the last decade and half. Accountability, probity, rule of law and social justice also suffered wanton abuse in the last 15 years. Our infrastructure in this country is also in a terrible state, in spite of the huge resources sunk into them.

    Look at the condition of power supply. The state of electricity supply, after 15 years of the PDP leadership of the country, is a testimony of the party’s lack of initiative. I don’t think Nigerians need anybody to tell them that they need a government that will make it work. The country needs a government with the passion to provide electricity to bring the moribund industries back to life and provide employment opportunities to Nigerians.

    Fifteen years after, we still have poor roads and ineffective transport system, weak healthcare delivery system, unproductive agricultural policies, poor education system and a dead manufacturing sector.

    It is totally unacceptable for a country like Nigeria to have its education system in such a comatose state. We have the human and capital resources to develop education to international standard. The parlous state of the sector has made many Nigerians students to travel out to much less endowed countries to study.

    Let me tell you, everybody in this country, including members of the ruling PDP, are feeling the pinch. You will be surprised to see the level of support and encouragement we are receiving from Nigerians across geographical and political divides.

    The APC would also practice true democracy, with clear separation of powers among the three arms of government. This would help to promote checks and balances, good governance, service delivery and democratic growth.

    It is also sad that in the last 15 years, our legislative arm did not enjoy the legislative independence it ought to have. Similarly, the judiciary ought to have been better than what it is today, but unfortunately government in the last 15 years deliberately blocked and retarded the independence of these two arms. This is what will make government under the APC different from what it is today.

    Some of your members seem to be aggrieved, following the recent national convention. What’s your reaction to this?

    Let me use this opportunity to correct this wrong impression about the so-called ill-feelings in the party after the convention. The APC convention was the best party convention we have seen since the return of democracy to Nigeria in the last 15 years. It was a convention conducted based on national interest. It was a convention in which national interest superseded individual, group or sectional interest. It was a convention in which national interest was paramount, incontestable and irresistible.

    Like in every human endeavour, somebody who sought for something but could not get it may feel sad at an individual level. But, we have assured such persons that the party has a large landscape to accommodate every member.

    However, to assure every member of social justice, we have put in place an appeal committee, to handle all issues arising from the convention. I believe the committee is effectively handling that.

    Let me also make this clear. Nobody has told us that he is leaving the party and, for your information, no true democrat with a true sense of patriotism and concern for Nigeria will ever contemplate leaving APC for another political party.

    If you see anyone leaving, he must have realised that APC is not the party for personal or selfish antics. This is a party that is determined to effect change in the polity. We will not compromise this stand and political jobbers will have no space here to actualize selfish ambitions.

    But, the doors of the party are wide open to every Nigerian who shares the same commitment and passion to change and transform Nigeria for good.

    The  governor of Ekiti lost the election and conceded defeat. What is your reaction?

    If you listened carefully to the governor, he said if that is the wish of Ekiti people so be it. He conceded in realization of possible conflicts that may follow if he disagrees with the result of the election.

    You see the mass deployment of security personnel in the Ekiti election in which members of our party were harassed and intimidated leaves much to be desired.

    We have always urged security agencies to maintain neutral stand; they must avoid actions that portray them as partisan and supporting a particular political party. They should promote a level playing ground for all parties and abide by the rules of engagement to safeguard the image of security organizations and the country.

    From our Ekiti experience, the security authorities must check their men in future elections, to guard against a repeat of such unfortunate intimidation.

    Now, in spite of all these, the outgoing governor and the APC candidate conceded defeat and congratulated the PDP candidate.  This is a new page in the history of Nigerian politics. This action must be commended and emulated by the PDP.