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| Sen. Buruji Kashamu, Representing Ogun East Senatorial district |
The Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial
District, Prince Buruji Kashamu has faulted the choice of Ekiti State Governor,
Mr. Ayo Fayose as the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors'
Forum.
In a statement he issued in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State on
Sunday, Kashamu said, "It was a misnormer that the governors of an
opposition party that is in need of rebranding and repositioning could chose a
liability, a loud mouth and an immature politician like Fayose as the Chairman
of the PDP Governors' Forum.
"It is not that his emergence as the Chairman of the
Forum means anything to me. But as a committed and loyal party man, it gives me
great concern that instead of taking steps that will foster peace and unity, we
are doing things that will widen the gap and cause more unity. Those who chose
him should have a rethink in the interest of the party that is striving hard to
return to power. His brother-governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, whose tenure he
purportedly continued as Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, is a cool-headed
and balanced character. Even then, some of us pointed out that Governor Mimiko
was slippery and sly, and a traitor who could not be relied upon. What happened
at the end of the day? The party broke on his head when he overreached himself
in the South West as the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum at the behest of
Governor Fayose. Instead of being a strong leader who would be fair to all, and
do good to all manner of people, without fear or favour, he became more of a
weather-beaten fowl, sullen and uninspiring. But, we thank God that we held our
grounds and fought for our rights.
"Fayose had
always wanted to be the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum. That was why he
had some resentment towards Mimiko upon his emergence as the Chairman of the
Forum in 2015. While I concede to our Governors the right to choose whoever
they want to lead them, my point is that they should have settled for a
balanced, more experienced and mature person to lead the Forum, not a cantankerous,
divisive and unstable character like Governor Fayose who snaps at the slightest
provocation. I know that the Forum boasts of Governors who are true leaders,
not pretenders. There are those who are better educated, well-cultured and
better exposed who are not working against the interest of their people and
country. We have Governors who have held public offices since the return
to democracy in 1999 but who are untainted. The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) does not have any case against them. Those are the kind of
people that could have been chosen to lead the Forum, not one with a goodwill
deficit whose hands have been found in the public till.”
Kashamu said the
choice of Fayose as the Chairman of the PDP Governors' Forum will further
polarise the party and destroy it.
His words, “How many
of the notable leaders of the party in Ekiti State and the South West are ready
to work with Governor Fayose? He had the opportunity to fight for the interest
of the good people of Ekiti State and Yoruba land but he flunked it, preferring
to promote impunity and side with a tiny clique who will always do his bidding.
How can our respected leaders stay aloof and allow this to happen when they are
aware of the genesis of the crisis in the party – Fayose’s and Mimiko’s
unbridled ambition to impose their will on the party and ride roughshod over
all other stakeholders of the party in the South West. The other day, he lured
our father, Chief Olabode George to Port Harcourt and sought to disgrace him at
the rescheduled National Convention in August, 2016.
The Senator recalled
that Governor Fayose brought Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and sold his candidature
to other stakeholders.
“But when he saw that
Senator Sheriff would not be pliable in his inordinate ambition to arbitrarily
hand him the critical structures of the party from the South West zone to the
national level, he cooked up a lot of lies and sold them to Governor Nyesom
Wike of Rivers State and others in order to discredit Sheriff.
"Even now, his utterances
about the lingering national leadership are a pointer to the fact that he will
exacerbate the crisis. Anyone who thinks that Sheriff is not needed in the
efforts to restore peace to the party must be joking. I wager that Fayose’s
conduct and utterances will widen the division in the party and more people
will use it as an alibi to continue to defect to other parties.
"I am aware that
more PDP Senators and members of the House of Representatives, including the
three Senators from Ekiti State are consulting among themselves with a view to
dumping the PDP very soon, all because of Fayose’s deception, divisive
tendencies and arrogance.
“We must reject
Governor Fayose now or strictly restrict him to running the affairs of the
Governors’ Forum while well-meaning leaders and elders of the party who are not
part of the crisis bedeviling the party are allowed to take charge of the
affairs of the party and run it properly and legitimately,” he said.
The lawmaker went on,
"Fayose keeps boasting that he is the oldest Governor in Nigeria and that
he is the only one who has defeated two incumbents. The fact is: he did not do
it alone. Some people pulled resources together to help him achieve those
feats. But, the question is: where are they today? Most of them have left him
when he showed them his true character. Even in Ekiti State, he cannot put
members and leaders of the party together. He sees himself as the Alpha and
Omega of the party in the state, shutting out any voice of dissent.
"It is important
to remind Fayose that the true measure of success 'is not how far but how
well'. The Governors' Forum is made up of seasoned, experienced and respected
political leaders who have been consistent with the PDP since its foundation in
1998 unlike Fayose who could not manage his first term, went to exile and later
abandoned the PDP for the Labour Party (LP), only to return in 2014 or
thereabout.
"Now, we are
aware he is in talks with the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and those who want to
float the so-called Mega Party. He has not been able to organise the party in
Ekiti State, let alone the South West zone and the national level. In fact, he
is on record as saying he does not know if the 2018 Governorship and House of
Assembly election in Ekiti State would be contested on the platform of PDP.
“Therefore, if he has
failed to bring the much-need leadership skills to bear on the party in Ekiti
State, which superior and respectable South West zonal leader and elder will
listen to him? Of course, I am not the leader of the party in the zone. But, I
am one of the foot-soldiers and voices of the party in the zone. I interact
with our leaders, elders and stakeholders across the zone. I know their
feelings and views.
"If Fayose thinks
that his emergence has conferred on him some advantage that he wants to use to
perpetrate the illegalities that led the party to where it is today, some of us
will continue to resist him vigorously. For, as they say, it is not over until
it is over. Fayose had better restrict himself to brain-washing his colleagues
in the Governors' Forum. If he seeks to lord his wishes over the
constitutionally recognized organs and structures of the party, trying to
impose the minority over the majority, then peace will continue to elude
party."
Kashamu said Fayose has
about 12 months before he will use his usual turban and attempt to escape
through Benin Republic to Ghana because of all the messy things he has done
with Ekiti State resources and ONSA funds and for which he would be held
accountable.
He said it would be a
long shot if anyone told Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and his team as well as
Senator Ahmed Makarfi and his team that the reserved judgment of the Court of
Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt would resolve the national leadership crisis of
the party, adding that, “it is pure deceit, self-delusion and a mere wishful
thinking”.
He therefore urged the
superior leaders and elders of the party in the Board of Trustees (BoT), the
Governors Forum and the leadership of the PDP in the National Assembly as
represented by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; Senate and
Reps Minority Leaders, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Hon. Leo Ogor, to prevail
on Senators Sheriff and Makarfi to step down for the party to move forward.
The various blocs
could then constitute a committee that would organise an all-embracing National
Convention within 30 to 45 days, he added.
The lawmaker suggested
that on the day such a meeting would be called, the National Executive
Committee (NEC) should meet to ratify the decisions reached at the meeting.
He said any of the two
leaders who refused to accept such a proposition would then be seen as the one
who does not have the interest of the party at heart.
“If that is what they
have to do for the party to survive, then they must do it if there is no hidden
agenda. I love and cherish the two leaders but the party is bigger than any and
all of us,” Kashamu said.
He noted that the
problem with the PDP is that, “we talk too much, but without a strategy. No
(financial) commitment, no action, no implementation and no finishing. How then
does anyone expect the party to move forward or succeed? We envy the others but
are not ready to pay the price of perseverance, selflessness and dedication
that they paid to get them to where they are today. If we must get things
right, we need to wake up from our slumber and be organized and proactive. You
cannot give what you don’t have. A disorganized and tactless person cannot
successfully lead a respected body like the PDP Governors’ Forum, let alone the
party. If care is not taken, his so-called leadership of the Forum could.
source: Platform Times
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