Oladiran Fadipe
Yes, the JKF factor is one of the biggest political issue as we gradually approach the 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State. At the last count, there are about 50 aspirants jostling to occupy the Oke-Ayoba mansion.
Whether from the APC or the PDP, the most talked about agenda is that of Ekiti South Senatorial district producing the next Governor of Ekiti State come 2018. That’s the single reason why the majority of the aspirants in the play of action today are from the South Senatorial district of the state.
Within the APC, if the Ekiti South agenda is anything to go by, it is also very important at this point for all the party members from the zone to come together and present a strong and acceptable candidate to the people of the state.
As it is, presently, the rumbles and disunity amongst the contestants from that zone is enough to kill that dream if the permutations are not carefully worked out. Whatever the permutation anyway, and whoever will emerge as the ring bearer of the APC in the party’s primary election should also consider strongly the Fayemi political factor.
Without any equivocation, and as things stand today, the APC political structure and machinery reside within the balance of Fayemi’s political camp. Therefore, it will be succinctly suicidal of any aspirant under the banner of APC to be contemplating of becoming the Governor of Ekiti State without putting into consideration the JKF factor.
Fayemi is not only a former governor and a serving minister but he also has the ears of the gods. No one goes to the gods without his hands and his blessings. He did it in Ondo State and is likely to do it in Ekiti State God’s willing.
Now, let’s talk about the likely chances of the APC in the coming election. The APC currently has the best chance and opportunity to clinch back to power in Ekiti State, only if the party does her home work properly. Apart from being the ruling party at the centre, the incumbent governor, Ayo Fayose seems to have exhausted all his political gimmicks and tricks that earlier earned him unwarranted popularity amongst the Ekiti people.
It is no longer news today that Fayose’s flawns and façade no longer pull the usual crowd around him. The deceitful games are over and Fayose has reached the state of political doldrums waiting to fall.
The current economic recession in the country not withstanding, the rate of poverty, lack, diseases, want and neglect among the people of Ekiti State has gotten to its crescendo under the leadership of Fayose. Backlogs of salaries and other emoluments are being owed the workers despite the huge bailout funds the state has received from the Federal government over times. Pensions are not paid as well. Fayose has practically turned his back at the state workers preferring to distribute a cup or Kongo of rice with ₦200 note to the gullible people of the state on the streets all in the theory of stomach infrastructure.
Contracts are awarded with reckless impunity. No due process nor due diligence followed. Only Fayose and his family has unlimited, unfiltered and uninterrupted access to the state funds. Nobody can approve anything unlike what obtained during the JKF era. Fayose is the Alpha and Omega, and he spends the state funds as if it belongs to his family estate. In case you don’t know, his Commissioners are there just to fulfill the constitutional mandates and not because they are needed for anything. No EXCO meeting ever since the inauguration of Fayose’s government in 2014. The Legislature are mere surrogate of the governor and rubber stamp whenever the need arises. They dare not query or question many of the extortionate act of the Governor. Most of the State Ministries and Departments are virtually non-existent, neutralised and in sleeping mode. That is the situation in Ekiti presently and the state workers are waiting patiently to do the needful at the right time.
Add all these together, unless there is any wide division in the house of the APC, the candidate of the party is the best choice for Ekiti people come 2018. That is if….and if…..
The Ekitigate issue is also a case to factor into the 2018 political game. What’s really happening here. Day after day, some of us are looking forward to hearing something concerning the renewal of the legal battle in the inconclusive 2014 Ekiti governorship debacle. Just about 18 months away, we are yet to hear from the gods.
No doubt, I am one of those who believes so strongly in the Ekitigate issue. If it ever comes at all, that may certainly be the game changer in the Ekiti 2018 project. So, how do we approach the issue, time simply wait for no man, we need the actions . Delay as they say may be dangerous.
It will be nice to curtail the bragging and excesses of this pretender at the helm of affairs in Ekiti once and for all. So, oh Lord, let your will be done, we are waiting.
