Ekiti 2022: Protest rocks PDP Secretariat in Abuja over zoning

The protest has rocked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat, Abuja, the nation’s capital ahead of the Ekiti State party governorship primary.

A group under the aegis of the Ekiti South Agenda on Thursday morning staged the massive protest at the party secretariat while asking the national party leaders to zone the governorship election to Ekiti South Senatorial District.

The placard-carrying protesters said it was hard for anyone to believe that since the advent of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, the Ekiti South zone remains the one being sidelined.

“If you want to win Ekiti 2022, zone the ticket to Ekiti South”

“Zone the ticket to Ekiti South and record victory”

Newsflash Nigeria gathered that since the advent of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, the zone remains the one being sidelined in the Ekiti political equation. It has not produced any democratically elected governor for once.

The only time the zone had ever come close to the coveted seat was on February 17, 2009, when the Appeal Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara state removed the then sitting Governor, Engr. Segun Oni and brought in the Speaker, Hon Tunji Odeyemi in acting capacity.

Odeyemi only had a stint as he could only rule for 79 days after which Oni won the controversial and litigation-dogged rerun and returned to the saddle of governance.

The immediate past Governor of the state, Mr Ayodele’s Fayose also brought a ray of hope in 2018. Through manipulation and arm-twisting, Fayose succeeded in picking his deputy, Prof Kolapo Olusola as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the July 14, 2018 election, but lost. So many shenanigans were responsible for that loss among which was the unbridled tyranny and inability to brook opposition by the then governor.

Despite that colossal and unexpected loss, the people then had a ray of hope that they were gradually inching towards that seat. But with the current permutations in town, the equation had tilted and boxed the highly agitated people of the zone to a corner as the 2022 governorship election beckons.

Fayose who was boisterous in his belief in Southern agitation in 2018 was the first to betray the course in 2021. When it was least expected, the former governor hastily picked former Commissioner under him and incumbent PDP State Chairman, Hon Bisi Kolawole as his preferred candidate in the PDP. This was the beginning of the troubles for the South. Kolawole is from Efon Alaaye in Ekiti Central.

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The likes of former Minister of Works, Dayo Adeyeye and Senator Biodun Olujimi tried to enforce zoning in the PDP in 2018, and it worked out. The then Governor, Ayodele Fayose backed his deputy, Prof Kolapo Olusola from the Ikere local government and headquarters of the district, but was eventually defeated by Fayemi from the North.

What makes the election wondrous was the fact that Fayemi won four out of the six councils in the district to emerge victorious over Prof Olusola, despite the zoning hoopla. This was a clear indication that the zoning mantra didn’t get the expected and desired resonation at that time.

With the body language of some of the politicians from that axis and their conducts then, the zoning thing was sabotaged completely and this could be hinged on divergent interests of political bigwigs and many other primordial sentiments.

But heaven, they say, helps those who help themselves. The mantra seems to be gaining ground with politicians of Ekiti South extraction from the ruling APC and PDP converged and jointly demanding the zoning of the governorship tickets of the parties to the district as the gubernatorial election holds in the state in 2022.

The political heavyweights, including aspirants on the platforms of the two dominant parties, clearly told those perceived as godfathers of Ekiti politics that no effort will be spared to resist attempt by anyone to sideline the zone that has not produced the governor since 1999.

Newsflash Nigeria understands that about six weeks to the 2022 governorship primary election of the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, 17 persons have shown interest in becoming the candidate of the party in the June 18 governorship election in the state.

Despite being an opposition party in the state, pundits believe PDP stands a chance of winning the election if the party picks the “right candidate”.

The national body of the party had fixed January 28, 2022, for the Ekiti governorship primary.

Already, the national leadership of the PDP had commenced the process leading to the primaries with the completion of sales of nomination and expression of interest forms and recently conducted a screening for the 17 aspirants.

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