Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
In what appears like a major crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State, the campaign organisation of Chief Segun Oni, one of the governorship aspirants who came second in the party’s primary, has explained its controversial court case against the candidature of Dr Kayode Fayemi, which was filed last week.
In a communique at the end of its expanded meeting in Ado Ekiti, the Segun Oni Campaign Organisation (SOCO) bemoaned alleged ostracisation, which it claimed, its members had been subjected to in the wake of the APC primaries and the emergence of Fayemi as the party’s candidate.
In the communique signed by SOCO’s Director General, Dr Ife Arowosoge, the group mentioned the case and explained that rather than the outrage it had attracted, the court case was in the interest of the APC in the state.
The communique said the members of SOCO were “aware of the recent case
pending before the High Court of Ekiti State instituted by the government of Ekiti Sate against the candidate of our party, Dr Fayemi, for the purpose of disqualifying him from contesting the forthcoming election slated for July 14, 2018”.
SOCO held that the suit by the government was aimed at “rendering our party incapable of presenting candidate at the election or removing him from office after winning the election if Ekiti State government wins their case no matter how long that takes”.
According to the group, “It is on this note we unanimously resolved to support the foresighted legal action instituted by the Segun Oni group as this will not only prevent the party from not being part of the governorship election but, very importantly, strengthen the rule of law and our democracy in Nigeria.”
It said: “The concerned and informed APC members should endeavour to educate our teeming supporters and members of the public that the main
purpose of the court action by the Segun Oni group is to rescue our party particularly at the state level, should the Ekiti State government’s case is decided against our candidate at any time.”
The group also said the matter was also “to protect the best interest of the members of the group and the greatest interest of the greatest number of Ekiti people,” adding that: “The legal action will defend our rights, privileges and interests within the party.”
The Segun Oni group said: “We appreciate the counsel of our South-west
leaders, recently read in the media but we plead for their understanding that our decision to go to court is to protect in particular, the current and future best interest of our group members of the party that are suffering so much unwarranted abuse and humiliation and who are not seen, heard or recognised as part of APC.”
Also in the communique, the Segun Oni supporters alleged that “the John Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation (JKFCO) has since from onset adopted the attitude of non-inclusiveness, ostracisation, marginalisation and demonstration of open hatred for Segun Oni and his group”.
It alleged that: “The insinuation for all these started before the primary, when it was reported that the main reason why Dr. Fayemi joined the race was to prevent a ‘stranger’ like Segun Oni from taking over the APC. Their gospel belief is that Chief Segun Oni, the former Deputy National Chairman (South) for APC is a PDP member who is a stranger to the APC.
“All efforts by Segun Oni and his group in all the 16 local government areas of Ekiti State to make Fayemi and his group treat us as one united political family has proved abortive. It has become more worrisome in that the Fayemi group has continued its acts of marginalisation, maltreatment, harassment and intimidation of our members at our party rallies.”
