Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
The South West Agenda for Asiwaju 2023 (SWAGA), of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Ekiti State has said the consensus arrangements being proposed by the National Caretaker Committee of the party, will not work in the state.
The group said consensus in Ekiti will not work as a result of some unilateral decisions already being taken by the state government and its caucus, with grave democratic consequences to an all embracing congress.
In a statement signed by the Ekiti State Chairman of SWAGA, Senator Tony Adeniyi, he said the governor and his caucus in the Ekiti APC, has solely imposed an electoral body, just as delegates have been handpicked for the congresses without the input of several party stakeholders.
He said that the names of the delegates were already compiled with promise by government to pay for their electoral dues.
He hinted that the APC in the state is polarized and only a direct primary can bring the party back on a stable foot.
Adeniyi stressed that the APC in Ekiti got its body fractures with the taking over of the party affair by a group within the state chapter under the name ‘Tokan-tokan, to which the governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi belongs.
He noted that the splinter group, within the Ekiti APC, has dominated state affairs since the taking over of Dr Kayode Fayemi and has held down other party members by retaining its grip on their jugular.
He therefore said that the party hierarchy would need to be painstaking in the conduct of the coming congresses to forestall the palpable imposition and the plot to disenfranchise some members and as such plunge the party into avoidable electoral turmoil.
Senator Adeniyi who commended the resolution of the national caretaker committee to ensure a swerve in the constituted State Congresses Electoral Committees, also advised that there should be a level playing ground for party members to carry out their aspirations without fair or favour.
“We hereby state categorically that the APC in Ekiti State are fully prepared to go for Direct Congresses immediately after the registration/revalidation exercise. We are not, and shall not be part of any unilateral ‘consensus’ arrangement whatsoever.
“The beauty of democracy is in allowing everybody to have their say, even when the majority would have their way. The only civilized way to prove our numerical values is through congresses, not by any proxy,” Adeniyi said.
The former lawmaker from the Southern part of Ekiti State, regretted the current state of disunity in the state chapter of the party, saying, “With regret, it has become an open secret that our governing party in this state is critically ill, lying in the operation theatre for surgery. Regrettably, still, the Chief Medical Director is contemplating “Mercy Killing” by withholding extreme medical measures, rather than providing life support for the patient.”
He said SWAGA, which is now offering life support for the APC in Ekiti State, want the national leadership of the party to do its best to firm up the process to avert any lopsidedness that would lead to litigations that could cripple party development as witnessed in 2018.
“You are not unaware that Governor Kayode Fayemi made a total mess of ensuring party cohesion in Ekiti State and he is unyielding in ensuring that our house is put in order to have a formidable front ahead of coming elections.
“Is it not an antithesis to the catalogue of moralities of ‘Tokan-tokan’ philosophy that the product of the struggle was unable to conduct a successful bye election that will give our party an easy win in Ekiti East? Nothing could be more shameful!
“We should also be mindful of the fact that this sidelining of party members with its implosive tendencies have continued unabated, causing many prospective members to be shut out and the existing family members deliberately blackened out of party activities. This necessitated a formal complaint lodged by the Integrity Group to the national leadership of the party in 2018.
“Much as we appreciate the good work done by the National Caretaker Committee, and its positive disposition towards midwifing a credible congress, across board, we hereby appeal to their conscience that justice must not only be done but must be seen to have been done. Otherwise, the corporate existence of our party might be in jeopardy.
“In the past time, there have been a flurry of stories in the media about the cause and effect of the unfortunate infighting in our party. There have been different narratives from different perspectives and affinities.
“But we have no intention to witch-hunt the dramatis personae but rather clip their wings of disunity and mischief, by demanding for a fair dealing for all party members so that the true representatives of the people can be on board after the coming exercise,” Adeniyi said
