THE WHISTLER recalls that Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State had indicated that he may seek a new platform to re-contest his governorship seat in 2018.
“I don’t know the platform I will use for the 2018 election yet… and at the appropriate time, I will tell you,” Fayose said.
Meanwhile the report revealed that proponents of the new mega party intend to start by winning Ekiti and Osun states in the 2018 governorship polls, ahead of 2019.
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The proposed mega party is said to also be targeting Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu in the South-east; Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Cross River and Bayelsa in the South-south; Osun, Oyo, Ekiti and Lagos in the South-west; Gombe, Taraba, Adamawa in the North East; and for now Benue State in the North-central zone, as well.
Although the key players fingered as drivers of the new mega party, Asiwaju Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar, have both denied their involvement, but a PDP chieftain told THISDAY that the party leadership “Expected Atiku and Tinubu to have been more strategic in their reactions to the news.”
THE WHISTLER further recalls that Governor Fayose had, at a time, weighed in on the alleged humiliation of Tinubu by the President Muhmmadu Buhari-led APC government.
“Tinubu is a prominent stakeholder; we should not sit back and watch while those he used his own sweat to make conspired with others to humiliate him,” Fayose said.
“Most importantly, it is my position that irrespective of political affiliation, no leader of the Yoruba nation must be vilified unduly, especially by the same people who humiliated our past leaders like Obafemi Awolowo, Adekunle Ajasin, Bola Ige, Bisi Onabanjo, Lateef Jakande and others.
“To me, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu should not be seen just as an APC leader, but acknowledged as a major stakeholder in the Yoruba nation that we must all protect beyond politics,” he added.
The brawl that ensued between the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and the self-acclaimed APC National leader, Tinubu, is a clear indication that the party made deliberate attempts to put Tinubu down.
But political pundits are of the opinion that Tinubu still has his grip on the South West region, with suggestions that he can still count on the loyalty of Governors Aregbesola of Osun State and Ambode of Lagos State.