A video clip has surfaced on social media on Monday, June 20 as over twenty leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State take an oath of allegiance, swearing that if they betrayed the former governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose, they would perish.
Fayose, popularly addressed as ‘Osoko’ by his followers, was a two-term governor in the state.
He became the second governor of Ekiti in 2003 but could not complete his tenure as a result of an impeachment in 2006. But in 2014, he was again elected under the PDP and served until the end of his tenure in 2018.
The video of the oath-taking which appeared on social media platforms Monday had over 20 PDP chieftains in a room, many of them from Ijero local government area of the state.
Amongst those present were Osanusi Niyi, the youth leader of Ijero Ward B; Wale Owoeye the youth leader of Ijero Ward A; Abiodun Olu, Vice Chairman Ward B Ijero; Kehinde Agbede from Ward A iloro; Kayode Olaleye the youth leader of Iloro/Ijurin Ward B; Falade Matthew, Iloro/Ijunrin youth leader and Vice-Chairman ijero Ward C, Ibrahim Ahmed.
In the five minutes clip, they were all mandated to identify themselves one after the other, swearing that if they betrayed Oshoko/Fayose, they would perish.
After taking the oath, they all chanted the PDP’s motto.
However, it was not clear who was behind the oath-taking or the situation that led to it.
Both Fayose and the party have distanced themselves from the footage, saying the concerned persons acted on their own volition.
The Secretary of the PDP in Ekiti State, Diran Odeyemi, said anyone has the right to say anything.
He said the party cannot be attached to the clip because none of the party executives was present.
“Anyone can decide to have a meeting. As far as I’m concerned, there are only seven executive members in the party and none of them was present at the meeting,” he told our reporter.
In the same vein, Lere Olayinka, the spokesperson of Mr Fayose, stated that the fact that his principal’s name was mentioned does not imply that he masterminded it.
“We know nothing about the video. I have also seen it. He (Fayose) was not in the video. Anyone can decide to pledge their allegiance to anyone. They did it on their own volition.
“Okay, even myself, Lere Olayinka, I am using this medium to pledge my support for Oshoko. Anyone can do that,” he said.
Watch the video credited by premiumtimesng
