Dead, sick people were accredited for PDP South-West congress – Fayose

A former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, claimed on Wednesday the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-West zonal congress was marred by irregularities.

The former deputy governor of Oyo State, Taofeek Arapaja, emerged the PDP vice-chairman in the South-West after he defeated the party’s ex-chairman in the zone, Dr. Eddy Olafeso, during the congress.

While Arapaja was backed by the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde,  Olafeso was Fayose’s preferred candidate for the party’s top position in the zone.

The ex-Ekiti governor, who stated this when he featured in Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today, said claimed that dead and sick people were accredited during the congress held in Osogbo, Osun State, on Monday.

He said a former Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, Mulikat Adeola-Akande, identified the dead and sick delegates on the accreditation list.

READ ALSO: At last Fayose accepts Makinde as PDP leader in South-West

Fayose said: “The leader of the transport union in Oyo State came to the venue publicly looking for my head. It was public knowledge.

“We compelled them to announce publicly how many people were accredited. They resisted that and said they will announce state-by-state. The norm is for you to announce accreditation and tell us how many people came and how many votes are expected.

“During the exercise, Ekiti voted first, followed by Ogun, Lagos and Osun States. They purposely allowed Oyo to vote last.

“When you look at the alphabet, you will realise that a game was obviously going on.

“In Oyo, they told us 177 were listed. Hon Mulikat protested and said, ‘this man is dead, this man is dead, this man is dead, this man is sick, this one is abroad, this one is aged’. They came back and told us 165. This is the game going on in the entire process.”

The ex-governor’s allegation came a few days after he confirmed the resolution of the PDP crisis in the South-West.

In a chat with media ahead of the congress, Fayose acknowledged Makinde as the party leader in the zone.

He insisted that the feud which stalled preparations for the zonal congress has been resolved.

“The issue at this congress is circumstantial, the question is who our leader is. Governor Seyi Makinde is our leader. Therefore, our supporters and lovers should not be putting a wedge between us,” Fayose stated.

However, the ex-governor’s latest claim has shown that the crisis rocking PDP in the zone has just began

 

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