Ekiti State governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential
\nhopeful, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has urged the party in the Southwest to
\nforge a common front and present a single candidate for the national
\nchairmanship position.<\/p>\n
He said; “going to the national convention in disunity will not serve
\nthe collective interest of the party in the Southwest zone.”<\/p>\n
Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communications and New
\nMedia, Lere Olayinka, quoted Governor Fayose as making this call on
\nMonday,\u00a0 in Lagos when he held a closed-door meeting with PDP national
\nchairmanship aspirants.<\/p>\n
The meeting was attended by former Deputy National Chairman of the
\nparty, Chief Olabode George; former Oyo State Governor, Senator
\nRasheed Ladoja, former Minister of Communications, Chief Dapo Sarumi
\nand former PDP National Chairman (South-West), Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo<\/p>\n
Former Ogun State governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, was unavoidably
\nabsent as he sent his apology.<\/p>\n
The meeting, which commenced around 9pm immediately after the arrival
\nof Chief George, who was accompanied by Chief Sarumi, among others,
\nlasted for over one hour.<\/p>\n
Governor Fayose, who addressed\u00a0 newsmen after the meeting, said he was
\ndesirous of having the PDP in the Southwest go to the convention as
\nunited and indivisible entity as it could not afford to go into the
\nexercise as a divided entity.<\/p>\n
The governor said; “It will be difficult for me to be going around
\nsoliciting support for all the chairmanship aspirants. It is when we
\nare able to present one common aspirant that I can be able to stand
\nbehind such aspirant and campaign round the country.<\/p>\n
“Going to the convention without cohesion would not speak well of the
\nSouthwest zone and the purpose of today’s meeting is to start a
\nprocess of achieving a common front.”<\/p>\n
He, however, said those at the meeting agreed that it should be an
\nongoing exercise and an all inclusive one where all stakeholders would
\nbe invited.<\/p>\n
Also speaking, Alhaji Oladipo described Governor Fayose as the
\nrallying point for the party in Southwest being the only PDP governor
\nand the chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum in the country.<\/p>\n
“He is a rallying point to make our position in the Southwest PDP
\nknown in the coming convention.<\/p>\n
“We endorse the calling of the meeting with all stakeholders in
\nattendance before the convention. It is our privilege to have him as
\nour governor and other stakeholders would be joining us before the
\nconvention,” Alhaji Oladipo said.<\/p>\n
On his part, Chief Ladoja, who said he had now become a full-fledged
\nPDP member, having obtained his party membership card, disclosed that
\nhe would publicly declare his chairmanship ambition by the end of the
\nweek.<\/p>\n
Chief George, in his remark, expressed support for the meeting,
\nsaying: “I also endorse the meeting and it shows that all hope is
\nlost.”<\/p>\n
He said it should be clear that the Southwest PDP was not a rudderless
\nship, exressing that at the end of the day, the intervention by
\nGovernor Fayose would be a welcome development that would gladden the
\nheart of members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ekiti State governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential hopeful, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has urged the party in the Southwest to forge a common front and present a single candidate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n