Why Southwest shouldn’t allow anybody to destroy Tinubu —Fayose

PLOTS by some Southwest politicians to pull down the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, will fail, former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, has said.

Fayose, spoke in his Afao-Ekiti country home at the weekend.

The former governor vowed never to pitch tent with those plotting to destroy Tinubu because the APC leader laboured for the country through his focused leadership, which stimulated the growth of Yoruba socio-political space with some politicians in the Southwest now occupying national leadership positions.

The PDP chieftain described as unfortunate that some politicians nurtured to political stardom by Tinubu are behind his travails on account of personal interest.

He said that Southwest people would resist any attempts to ridicule Tinubu, whom he described as image of Yoruba nation, adding that any attack against the former Lagos State governor should be viewed as an attack on the entire Yoruba people.

According to him, the APC stalwart does not deserve to be crucified by his political mentees, for whom he sacrificed enormously to groom and raise from political obscurity to limelight.

Fayose said the conspiracy against the ex-governor which was part of strategies to divide and create confusion among the Yoruba people would fail, urging his Yoruba kinsmen to support and accord him the necessary regards.

He said: “I am not championing the course of Tinubu. I am not in the position to do that, but there is no denying the fact that Tinubu is a prominent Yoruba leader, whether in APC or in PDP.

“For me, Tinubu, has paid his dues, I stand by that. I have not seen Tinubu after the Ekiti election by any means. We haven’t even met at a function or see him passed. I will not sit down in any corner to shoot down Tinubu. I am not a member of APC and I will never be. But I supported Governor Fayemi to be governor by Tinubu’s influence at a time.”

Fayose also said in spite of the multifaceted crises in the PDP, that he won’t jump ship like some leaders of the party had done.

He said: “If we are fighting in PDP, let us fight it inside PDP. People who have been jumping ship are armed robbers. They are being driven by greed and inordinate ambition. These are indications of the type of leaders we have in our country who are without ideology.

“They go for only what they feel would benefit them. Governor Umahi’s joining APC after benefiting several positions in PDP was unprincipled. We do not accept the excuses given by the governor. I am not satisfied with some things in PDP, but, leaving the party will not equally solve the problems.”

Fayose, who described Ajayi as a force to reckon with in Ondo politics, said he would thrive better politically in a mainstream and liberal political party like the PDP.

Agboola, who, in the build-up to the October governorship election in Ondo State, dumped the APC for the PDP and later abandoned the PDP for the Zenith Labour Party to contest the election, had been a House of Representatives member under PDP.

The ex-governor made the call when the deputy governor visited him in Afao-Ekiti at the weekend to celebrate with him on his 60th birthday.

Fayose, who urged Agboola to return to the PDP and join hands with other leaders in Ondo to rebuild the party, said the raging crisis between him and other leaders of the party in Ekiti and the Southwest region would be resolved in the overall interest of the PDP.

He said: “There is nothing to worry about. If Governor Seyi Makinde and I have issues, Nigerians should not worry themselves about that. I was the one who went to flag off Governor Makinde campaign in Ogbomoso. Whether he is backing Senator Olujimi or not, the fact remains that the struggle for the control of party’s structures in Ekiti has come and gone.

“So, why do we have to fight over spilled milk? We won the congresses, but they are in court. If the court says it’s Olujimi that is right, we would follow her and if the court says she has no case, they should join us so that we can move the party forward.”

Source: The Nation.