. Fayose Wasting Time- Nwodo
By Nkeremwen Cosmas
Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose brushed aside his party’s preference for candidate of northern geo-political zone for the presidential ticket in the 2016 elections and made good his earlier announcement by formally declaring his presidential ambition at the Golden Hall, Chelsea Hotel, Abuja, Thursday.
Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, had said last week that Governor Fayose, in a letter addressedto leaders of the PDP, that his ambition to be president was without prejudice to the party’s position, but in the overall interest of the party and Nigeria.
At the declaration, Thursday, the governor said: “Our country is faced with myriads of problems, our economy that was the fastest growing in Africa when our party was in power has gone comatose with the present managers who are completely clueless.
“Most worrisome is the fact that our country is now more divided than ever before with the unity of the country being threatened due to nepotism, religious bigotry, and favouritism of the present government,” said the Ekiti State Governor.
The the party’s position that it has zoned the presidency to the North, Mr. Fayose he was ready and willing to face any anointed or sponsored candidate in a fair contest, daring them to come forward. “I challenged the North to come out with their candidates. I want to challenge all of them to the field. What are you afraid of? Come out. I [have thrown] my hat in the ring. Let them come and face me,” said Fayose.
But the party had made it clear that he was embarking on a failed mission. His declaration is however attracting reactions from party big wigs. For Senator Iyiola Omisore, Fayose is has done the right thing. According to him, “Fayose has shown himself as a man of courage. Nigeria needs an energetic president. We don’t need a packaged President anymore.”
But Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, a Board of Trustee (BoT) member of People Democratic Party (PDP), disagrees. He says Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, cannot contest in the party’s primary poll for 2019 presidential election.
He stated this on Thursday in Abuja shortly after Fayose’s formal declaration of his intention to contest for the position of president of Nigeria in 2019 on PDP’s platform.
Nwodo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that PDP’s ideology forbade Fayose and other members from the South from contesting in the presidential race in 2019.
He said that the ideology would be followed to the letter in spite Fayose’s declaration.
“Fayose cannot run and I will tell you my reason.
“When we formed PDP, the first battle we fought and won as a party was to zone the presidency to the South.
“Those of us from the south made a case because in the first republic, prime minister was from the North; in the second republic, the president was from the North, and in the third republic, a southerner won and the election was annulled.
“There was no way we could go back to the south and say let’s elect a northerner again without giving the south a slot.
“A decision was taken that the presidency should come from the south and the chairman of the party to come from the north.
“That was how Solomon Lar became the chairman of PDP and secretary was zoned to the south; that was how I became the first secretary of the party,’’ he said.
Nwodo, a former National Chairman of PDP, said that the party would take a decision to ensure that its Constitution and ordinances were respected.
He explained that those who tried it in the past failed to achieve their aim.
“For example, late Abubakar Rimi, former Governor of Kano State paid for a form and wanted to run.
“Then I was the national secretary, I returned his cheque and informed him that the party had taken a decision that the presidential candidate could only come from southern Nigeria.
“When we went to the Convention in Jos, he went to the venue and started to campaign without having a form because we didn’t give him.
“We had to get some party leaders around to go and counsel him; we didn’t want security agencies to manhandle or embarrass him and good counsel prevailed and he stepped down.
“That was what PDP did and now we did not only zone the presidency to the north, we have re-emphasised at every opportunity we had that the zoning will take place.
“So, the party will not collect expression of interest money from anybody else who is not from the North and will not issue him a nomination form to contest; no, we will not do that,’’ he added.
But, Fayose had in a letter to PDP leaders insisted that his ambition to be president was without prejudice to the party’s position, adding that it was in the interest of the party and Nigeria.
