. Jimi Agbaje visits governor
Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has reiterated his position that those aspiring to be the National Chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southwest zone must come together and
present a single candidate for the position.
He also said, “It
won’t be in the collective interest of the Southwest zone to present six aspirants at the convention as we presently have.”
Governor Fayose made the appeal, while receiving one of the aspirants, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, who paid him a visit in Lagos on Wednesday.
The Ekiti State governor further said, “chairmanship
aspirants from the Southwest must come together and allow one person
to fly the flag. It will be like crashing before take-off if we take six aspirants to the convention.”
According to a statement issued on Wednesday, by his Chief Press
Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, the governor urged Agbaje to pursue his aspiration with decorum and ensure that the PDP and Nigeria
remained the major reasons for the aspiration and not personal
interests, adding, “A situation where we have aspirants that
already have president aspirants will not augur well for the party.
“We held a meeting with other chairmanship
aspirants on Monday, and it is expected that a follow up meeting will
be held very soon. I urge you (Jimi Agbaje) to attend the meeting so
that we can forge a common front together. This is because the
Southwest zone cannot go to the convention with more than five
aspirants as we now have and expect to win.
“Most importantly, as the only PDP governor in the Southwest, I cannot be going round with all of you (aspirants) to solicit for support.”
But, Agbaje said that he visited the governor to
formally inform him of his decision to run for the PDP national
chairmanship.
“As the only PDP governor from the Southwest, I have come to formally inform Your Excellency that I will be seeking election as the National
Chairman of our great party, the PDP.
“I am of the opinion that it will be inappropriate for you to get to
know about my aspiration in the media, hence, my decision to come here and tell you formally,” Agbaje said.
While describing himself as “the best man for the job,” Agbaje said, “If not for what happened at the August last year’s convention,
I would have clinched the chairmanship position then and I am confident that I will emerge as the chairman this time around.”
Agbaje, who promised to attend the next meeting with other
aspirants from the Southwest so as to jointly forge a common front,
added, “there is no desperation in my aspiration. Rather, it is
the PDP that matters.”