2015: Don’t take Jonathan for granted, Fayose warns APC

Ekiti State Governor- elect, Ayodele Fayose, has attributed his victory at last Saturday’s  governorship election to the insistence of President Goodluck Jonathan on party primary to choose the governorship candidate of the party.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja, when he visited the national secretariat of PDP Reloaded, a forum pushing for the nomination of the president for the party’s presidential ticket, Fayose said he would have lost the ticket to the gang-up of other aspirants, who insisted on consensus option.

“I owe my victory to Mr. President. If not for Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who insisted on party primary, consensus would have defeated me,” he said.

Fayose urged the party chieftains to close ranks and resolve their differences in the South-West, so that the party could regain lost grounds in the zone.

The governor-elect assured that he would lead campaigns for the re-election of President Jonathan in the South-West, just as he warned the All Progressives Party (APC) that change was imminent in the zone.

“I must ensure he (President Jonathan) comes back. If they succeed in blocking him, we are in trouble in this country. I want to struggle and work for Jonathan. A lot of people have been taking him for granted. If you take him for granted, we will take you for granted. A lot of them said he has not worked but what have they done in their states?

“ We will bruise their ego. In Osun State,  we will bruise their ego. We will make Jonathan and  PDP proud.

“The APC is still confused, asking questions, they don’t know what befell them. No APC senator won his ward last Saturday; the incumbent governor lost in his local government!  It was a tsunami. If PDP resolves its differences, we shall win the entire South-West.

“APC doesn’t have the manpower, they rely on  propaganda.

“PDP is a very good party, if we put our house in order. I will ensure that 70 per cent of our chieftains, who are aggrieved, return to the party,” Fayose pledged.

Speaking further, he offered an illumination into his cabinet as he disclosed that party men, who toiled day and night be adequately rewarded, adding that there would be no special preference for technocrats.

“ Those who were part of the struggle must reap. I don’t  know of any technocrat, I don’t need any. Those party men  who gave me support must be accommodated in my administration.”

National coordinator of PDP Reloaded, Richard Lamai, in his remarks described Fayose’s victory as a remarkable feat and further noted that, “ as an apostle of change, his victory has opened the gate into South-west. It shall be repeated in Osun, Oyo and  Lagos states until we drive APC into the Atlantic Ocean.”     THE SUN