…as Fayose, Olujimi factions bicker over member’s suspension for taking govt appointment
Former governor Ayodele Fayose and the Senator Biodun Olujimi factions of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti on Monday took on each other over the alleged suspension of a party member, Mr Badejo Anifowose.
While the Fayose faction insisted that it had suspended Anifowose from the Ekiti PDP for alleged anti-party activities, including taking up an appointment with Dr Kayode Fayemi-led All Progressives Congress administration, the Olujimi faction said that the Fayose group lacked the authority to suspend any member or go into Anifowose’s privacy.
The Olujimi faction argued that the matter of the party authority was pending in court.
Anifowose, in his reaction to his alleged suspension, said, “I am not accountable to their faction. The party has two factions in Ekiti and the case is still court. So, they are not in a position to suspend me, they have no right. They don’t know me as a member of the party because I don’t belong to their faction.”
The ex-governor’s faction, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Raphael Adeyanju, explained that the State Working Committee, had at an emergency meeting presided over by the Chairman, Hon. Bisi Kolawole, on Monday, approved the suspension following recommendations from Anifowose’s ward and local government executives of the PDP.
“You see, the man belongs to a group that has been working with the APC government to destabilise our party. We have refrained from taking hardliner’s step, because we believe he should be given a fair hearing,” Adeyanju stated.
Publicity Secretary for the Olujimi faction, Sanya Adesua, said, “Anifowose is free to take up an appointment to serve his state. In what capacity is the Bisi Kolawole group acting? Bisi kolawole has no right to suspend anybody.”
Adesua argued that the Fayose faction lacked the moral right to address any issue of anti-party or morality as “he that comes to equity must come with clean hands.”
“Fayose is a typical example of lawless leadership. Has he (Fayose) not been campaigning for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu? He has been defending Tinubu for weeks now. So, what are they talking about?” he said.