The Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Kolapo Olusola, is the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate for the July 14 governorship election.
Mr Olusola scored 1,190 votes to defeat the former acting spokesman of the PDP, Dayo Adeyeye, who polled 771 votes.
In the primary election, 2,086 were accredited for the election; but only 1,968 were eligible after others were disqualified.
BACKGROUND
In the build up to Tuesday’s primary, the election was seen as a direct battle between Mr Fayose, main backer of Mr Olusola, and Mr Adeyeye. A third aspirant and current senator, Abiodun Olujimi, was expected to step down and eventually did so for Mr Adeyeye on Tuesday.
Mr Adeyeye and his co-aspirants refused to be intimidated by the governors “area politics.” Instead, they stood their ground and pushed harder against the governor’s stand. The governor’s overbearing posture was almost going to destroy the party before the primaries, but for the timely intervention of the reconciliation committee led by former president of the Senate, David Mark.
It had been said that the governor had the right to support his candidate, but the aspirants did not trust him in ensuring a level playing field for all of them. Mr Adeyeye had accused the governor of double standards, because he had earlier promised that he would leave the government house along with his deputy, only to change in the end, seeking to “succeed himself” through his deputy.
The governor had said he had no apologies for supporting his deputy, and that his support did not preclude other aspirants from pursuing their dreams of becoming the governor of the state. The manner the governor went about it was viewed by his opponents as creating an opposition within the same party.
Several truce reached between Messrs Fayose and Adeyeye broke down almost immediately after the mediators, the David Mark-led reconciliation committee, was near Abuja. There were fears that the PDP would lose the election to the rampaging APC if the party fails to post a rancour free primary election.
The raging desperation to have an upper hand showed at the ward congresses, with pockets of skirmishes recorded across the state.
The national leadership of the PDP has a peculiar interest in what happens during the primaries. Mr Adeyeye had told PREMIUM TIMES in one of his interviews that the outcome of the Ekiti and Osun primaries would determine the PDP’s fortunes in the 2019 general election.
Mr Adeyeye and Mrs Olujimi agreed that provided Mr Fayose allows a transparent process, the candidate who emerges on Tuesday would get their support. Mr Fayose, although confident that his “candidate” would win, also assured members of the party that should Mr Adeyeye get majority of the votes of the delegates, he would get his support for the July 14 election.
“Adeyeye, Olujimi and others are free to contest. The PDP belongs to all of us . But let me say this , I stand with Prof Olusola, he is my candidate,” Mr Fayose said in one of his interviews.
“Though I am a leader, but no law says I can’t have preference. The only thing that can’t happen is for me to manipulate the primary.”
Mr Adeyeye’s position was clear. He believed he had the delegates and would win if Mr Fayose does not manipulate the process.
“Nobody can stop my aspiration. I am qualified by age, education and I have the mental capacity to hold any exalted office in Nigeria,” were his words of confidence.
