By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on Monday said he didn’t attend the meeting of the Southwest leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which held in Lagos on Sunday, because he was not invited.
APC is the dominant political party in the Southwest. Five of the six governors in the zone were elected on the platform of the ruling party with the exception of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, who was elected on the platform of the opposition peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, didn’t also attend the meeting presided over by the former APC interim national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande.
Other Southwest APC top shots that attended the meeting included Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Governors of Ogun and Osun states, Prince Dapo Abiodun and Gboyega Oyetola, Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, former Ogun State Governor, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd), and Chief Pius Akinyelure.
But Fayemi said on Monday that the invitation for the meeting which was said to have been sent via WhatSapp by Tinubu’s aide, Tunde Rahman, never got to him.
A statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, and obtained by TheNiche explained that the governor’s absence at the meeting was “a result of a mix up in the invitation sent out for the meeting.”
The statement read in part, “Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, wholeheartedly supports the stance of the All Progressives Party (APC) Southwest leaders at their meeting that took place in Lagos on Sunday, May 23rd, 2021 despite his absence at the meeting.
“Dr. Fayemi’s absence at the meeting was a result of a mix up in the invitation sent out for the meeting.
“For clarity, the invitation for the meeting which was said to have been sent via Whatsapp by Mr. Tunde Rahman, an aide to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, never got to Governor Fayemi.
“The absence of an invitation for the Southwest APC leaders meeting prevented the Governor from attending the meeting, as he was not aware.
“Governor Fayemi however sent an apology to the meeting through former Ekiti State Governor and Minister of Industries, Trade and Investments, Otunba Niyi Adebayo; as he was already scheduled to attend another engagement at the time he came to learn of the meeting.
“Governor Fayemi, as a true democrat and Southwest leader who is committed to the welfare of the people, is however in total support of the decisions reached by the Southwest leaders at the meeting which include an endorsement of the positions earlier adopted by the Southern Governors’ Forum on the ban on open grazing and the need for true federalism, among others,” the statement added.
