THE All Progressives Congress, APC, leaders in the Southwest have restated their support for Kayode Fayemi, the party’s gubernatorial candidate in the July 14 Ekiti governorship election, and condemned a court case allegedly instituted by Segun Oni, one of the defeated aspirants of the party in the state.

They said the decision to support Fayemi was reached through a combination of persuasion, reconciliation, consensus-building and understanding on the part of all the stakeholders, pointing out that they as leaders held several intervention meetings in Abuja, Lagos and Ekiti with all the APC Ekiti gubernatorial aspirants where they resolved to support whoever emerged from the party’s primaries.

Condemning the court case which they described as spurious, the leaders asked those behind the court action to withdraw the case immediately “if they are within our party and not agents of PDP.”

They also called on Oni to come out publicly to dissociate himself from and condemn the case and play active role in the APC campaign.

The statement was signed by Bola Tinubu, APC national leader, Bisi Akande, former interim chairman of the party, Niyi Adebayo, the newly-elected APC deputy national chairman (South), and Pius Akinyelure, the party’s former national vice chairman, South-West.

Entitled “We Stand Behind Kayode Fayemi,” the statement said in part: “We have stood behind Kayode Fayemi’s candidacy since he won the governorship primaries and when we all gathered in Ekiti for the Mega Rally on June 19, it was an emphatic declaration of support for his candidacy. Again on the night of June 19, we as leaders met with all stakeholders including all former aspirants and commended them for not defecting from the party. They all emphasized their commitment and suggested that Kayode Fayemi run an effective and inclusive campaign that will ultimately lead to an all-inclusive government.

“We have been consistent in our position working to ensure victory for the APC candidate, we are therefore surprised to find out through media channels about plans to challenge Kayode Fayemi’s candidacy on spurious grounds.

“Furthermore, it is worrisome that a court action against Kayode Fayemi and our party is alleged by media reports to be instituted by Chief Segun Oni, which from our investigations is being sponsored by some unknown persons.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we the undersigned leaders remain solidly behind the candidacy of Kayode Fayemi knowing full well he has fulfilled all necessary requirements for the election as the candidate of our party.

“We have forged a common front even as we are irrevocably committed to our party’s victory come July 14, 2018. Nothing should be allowed to undermine our party’s victory in the upcoming election.

“We therefore demand that the sponsors of the court action withdraw their case immediately if they are within our party and not agents of PDP. We also request that Segun Oni should also come out publicly to dissociate himself from and condemn the case and play active role in the APC campaign.”

– Jun. 26, 2018 @ 17:25 GMT |