National Vice Chairman, South West of the People’s Democratic, Mr. Olorogun Eddy Olafeso, has said that all the defectors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who defected to the People’s democratic Party (PDP) recently did so for their self interest.
Specifically asked if the defection of Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, is also self interest, Mr. Olafeso repeatedly confirmed saying “self interest, self interest, self interest” and said the defections had no impoact they would make in the electoral future of the PDP, particularly in the coming 2019 general elections.
By implications, the PDP’s Southwest chairman was saying that the defectors, including the man the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) handed automatically the all-important Party Leadership position, Bukola Saraki, Governor of Kwara State and those that done gone out of APC by Saraki’s orchestration had done so for their self interest and therefore had nothing going for them in the party as events unfold.
On Senator Buruju Kashamu, Olafeso, who was responding to questions on TVC FireWork programme on Saturday, lampooned Ogun East senator saying he is a serial offender of the law.
He was specific that Kashamu, who was a major funder of Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose in the buildup to his 2014 still controversial election, is not a factor in how PDP will win the governorship election in Ogun come 2019.
The PDP leader, who was vehement in his claims that only the APC spent money during the July 14, 2018 Ekiti State Governorship election, said hope was not entirely lost for the party in the South West.
Olafeso however did not give the space to be asked what would happen if in the end it turned out to be the his party actually played the leading role in the vote-buying.
He said there are photographs to prove that APC was the only party that spent money and used security forces on the electorates on the election day and therefore vowed that the party would retrieve its mandate from Governor-elect, Kayode Fayemi, by the court.
In the meantime, Dr. Fayemi has encouraged the PDP’s candidate at the election over his resolve to go to court saying he is entitled to doing so and that he should continue with it as, according to the man who will later this year in October terminate the last hold of PDP in the South West region by stepping into Oke Isha as governor, “they will present their case, we will also respond to those challenges and the court will make its decision”.
Generally, more Nigerians have expressed confidence that President Muhammadu Buhari has finally entrenched actual rule of law and due process in the Nigerian governing system.
A Lagos economist, Mr. Wale Ogunyemi noted that, “What do you think would have made Saraki this powerful if not because of President Buhari? Could he have tried all of this nonsense with Olusegun Obasanjo when he was there? Do you not remember how many Senate Presidents Nigeria had under Obasanjo? If not because of Buhari’s insistence on strengthening the Constitution, do you think Fayose would spend one day above his one year when the President took over in 2015? But you could see Fayose behaving like he is the most powerful in Nigeria telling all the lies of the world against the President, his party and his government and yet he did nothing to remove him. Could he have done it with Obasanjo? Of course you knew Obasanjo removed him as governor.” He said.
