Fayose, National Assembly candidates, loyalists absent at Ekiti PDP presidential rally

• Published date: 18 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, seven out of the nine National Assembly candidates contesting on the platform of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) shunned yesterday's party's presidential campaign in the state.

Twenty out of the party's 26 House of Assembly candidates and some State Working Committee members loyal to Fayose were also absent at the rally held at the Ekiti Parapo Pavillion, Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.

The absence of Fayose, the National Assembly and House of Assembly candidates and other loyalists of the former governor, it was reliably gathered, was not unconnected with disagreement between the PDP presidential candidate and the aggrieved G-5 governors.

Fayose is loyal to the G-5 governors led by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike. They are insisting on the resignation of Senator Iyorcha Ayu as the party's national chairman to ensure a balance in the leadership of the main opposition party.

The campaign witnessed a large turnout of party members and supporters of the party's presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Despite the alleged ban placed on commercial vehicles, Atiku's supporters thronged the venue of the rally hours before he arrived.

Atiku praised the people of Ekiti State for coming out massively, despite the antics of the All Progressives Congress-led state government to frustrate the campaign rally by allegedly creating artificial fuel scarcity and placing a ban on the activities of commercial drivers.

With such an attitude, he said the people of Ekiti State have demonstrated that they are not only intellectuals but also independent-minded by defying all man-made odds designed to discourage them from attending the rally.

The PDP presidential candidate said the turnout was a sign of victory in next month's election. He added: 'With the crowd I see here, there's no doubt that Ekiti is in the bag.

'Honestly, what I have seen here today almost brought tears to my eyes. Do you know why? Before we came here, some people said we are not going to see anybody in Ekiti. We now realise what they meant was to cripple the transportation system today not only in Ado-Ekiti but in the whole of Ekiti.

'Again, they didn't stop there; they caused...