•Ex-EKITI Governor, Dr. KAYODE FAYEMI Tells City People
Months after the APC National primaries took place, where some of the presidential aspirants stepped down to enable Asiwaju Bola Tinubu clinch the APC presidential ticket, ex-Ekiti governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi who was one of the key aspirants who stepped down and who was central to the stepping down of other aspirants, has revealed why they all had to step down for Tinubu to emerge.
In a recent interview with City People, he revealed a lot of behind the scene moves.
May do not know that he was at the centre of it all, as he was one of those who helped Tinubu emerge at the APC primaries. Why did he and other presidential aspirants step down for Tinubu? “Yes, you are right. I was at the centre of it all. But it is difficult for you to understand what happened. Let me tell you. This is the 1st time, I will be talking about this. And let me explain all that happened.”
“More than that, I worked with my colleagues to make sure that they insisted on the ticket coming to the South. I worked with the Northern governors on the ticket going South. For me, it is about fair mindedness. It is about Equity. We have had President from a particular section of the country, we need to take it elsewhere. I just talked about a divided society now during the course of this interview and what you need to do, when you have a divided polity. So, you just have a President from a particular section of the country, it is only fair and equitable to look in the direction of another part of the country, in other to give everyone a sense of belonging – East, West, North.
Yes, I ran because I felt I had an Agenda for Nigeria, that would work for all Nigerians, regardless of Ethnicity or Religion because for me, I was more interested in National Cohesion, and then using that Oneness. And I don’t mean Oneness as Sameness or Unity as Uniformity.
But a Consensus, broadly speaking. Yes, you may have some who don’t quite share the same view, but broadly speaking, a Consensus that everybody can tilt in a particular direction.
Why we were able to succeed to get our colleagues in the North to do what they did, there was no consensus among the Northern governors, and among the Governors generally, as to which direction to head.
We had about 4 or 5 of my colleagues in Asiwaju’s camp. We had another 4 or 5 in my Camp. You had 5 of us in the race, like Yaya Bello, Dave Umahia, myself, Baruwa Abubakar, and Ben Ayade.
So, at the very least each of us will vote for ourselves (laughs). We had people who were oscillating between myself. Asiwaju and the V.P.
Don’t forget that the Elders in the party in the South-West, had made repeated efforts to get myself, the VP, Asiwaju, Senator Amosun, Dimeji Bankole, Pastor Tunde Bakare, to come together and agree on a unified candidate. They didn’t succeed.
At a point, towards the last days of our canvassing for votes amongst ourselves, and the leadership of the party, and traversing the country, I could sense that we needed to move in a particular direction if we wanted to honour what the Northern governors had done, by “Conceeding” that we go South, in the choice of our presidential candidate. If we had not done that we would have lost out. You can recall that at the last minute, there was a joker of a Consensus Candidate from the party, in the name of Senator Ahmed Lawan.
And, I didn’t want to be blamed. Look, Asiwaju and I come from the same political family. I justifiably felt I am in a better position to drive an agenda for change and a broader platform for unifying Nigerians, but I know that Asiwaju and I share the same political perspectives on Restructuring, on National Cohesion, on Security, on Human Rights, and for Economic prosperity. So, that was what brought me to that conclusion. And Asiwaju didn’t know about it. He was shocked, just as everyone was. The only person who knew about it, I could say is Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who I had convinced that look, SIA, I think it is time, lets pull together. You know I have a national outlook to politics. But in this case, I don’t want to be blamed for throwing all the opportunities we have, out, by fighting each other to the point of death and then seceding this to an outsider, who does not come from our part of the country. It is a tough one but it was an unexpected position to take. And for the party, he has paid his dues. Asiwaju has been there for all of us. He has been there for the party. Yes, many of us were there with him at the inception of the party. He is our most valuable player.”
“And to that extent, one can conceed that to him. But then for many of us, there is still a future to look ahead to.”
Not many know that Tinubu and Fayemi are very close. He revealed the depth of their closeness in his interview. “Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and I are very close,” he revealed. “Understandably, you know my relationship with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He has supported me. We have worked together in this trenches. He is someone I have a great deal of respect for. Above all, he is my party candidate. So, I really don’t have a choice than to support him and make sure he wins”.
