The defeat of the incumbent Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, by the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has caused fears and jitters in most states governed by the All Progressives Congress, SUNDAY PUNCH investigations have revealed.

The governorship election, held in Ekiti State on Saturday, June 21, saw Fayose polling a total of 203,090 votes to emerge the winner of the contest while Fayemi of the APC and another major contestant, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, of the Labour Party, polled a total of 120,433 and18,135 votes, respectively.

Our correspondents sampled the mood in the APC states of Osun, Rivers, Borno, Lagos and Oyo. They also checked the pulse in Ogun, Kwara and Edo states.

OYO

In Oyo State, the ruling party, the APC, our correspondent gathered, had stepped up its efforts to retain the state in 2015, following the victory of the PDP in Ekiti State penultimate Saturday.

Investigations by SUNDAY PUNCH showed that the party leaders had met to discuss the modalities that would sustain their hold on power come 2015. A source said efforts were being made to reconcile aggrieved party members.

“Fayose won because he was close to the people when he was in government. Oyo APC leaders are fashioning strategies that will bring Governor Abiola Ajimobi closer to the grass roots.

“Ekiti election is a wake-up call to the party. Senator Femi Lanlehin has gone to the Accord Party and Senator Ade Adeseun is on his way to the PDP; it says a lot about the internal crisis in the party. And with the Ekiti results, those who are moving towards the exit door are moving fast now. They want to leave before the next election,” the source said.

After the Ekiti election, a serving commissioner in the state (name withheld) expressed concern over the ability of the APC to hold on to power on his Facebook page. He wrote, “A responsible government must at all times connect with the people.”

One of those who responded to the post said Ekiti election was a big lesson for Oyo State.

Another respondent said it could be too late for the APC and that the masses would react in 2015.

The Chairman of the APC in Oyo State, Akin Oke, told one of our correspondents that the party would investigate what happened in Ekiti before taking a decision on the immediate future.

“There will be investigation into what happened in Ekiti. The party will not fold its hands and watch. It is unfortunate that Governor Kayode Fayemi did not reflect on the events leading to his loss before accepting defeat. Is he so bad that he could not even win in his ward? There are fundamental questions to be asked,” he said.

Ajimobi’s Special Adviser on Media, Festus Adedayo, told our correspondent that the Ekiti election was an eye-opener.

“What the Ekiti election has done for us is to open our eyes to the newest intrigues in electioneering and party politics. We have collated all the events leading to the election, studied them and we are wiser,” Adedayo said.

Osun

Sources close to the APC in Osun State told one of our correspondents that shortly after the Ekiti election results were announced, the astounded leaders of the party in the state held a meeting and decided to pacify workers and other groups in the state.

One of the measures, it was learnt, was the payment of the May salaries of workers, aimed at boosting their confidence in the administration.

The governor confirmed this at a rally held in Ikirun on Tuesday, where he said workers had started receiving salary payment alerts.”

Also, members of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme, popularly known as O’YES, who had not be paid for some months, it was learnt, had started receiving their salary arrears.

All these payments, a chieftain of the party said, were aimed at pacifying some categories of people who might have been aggrieved.

The loss of the APC in Ekiti State has also forced the ruling party to commence aggressive campaigns in rural communities.

It was also observed that public taps, which had been dry for months in some areas like Odi Olowo Street in Osogbo, the state capital, had started running.

Reacting to the outcome of the Ekiti election, Aregbesola had said, “What they did in Ekiti is not possible here in Osun. Osun is different and they know it. In 2011, all Yoruba states voted for PDP presidential candidate, but Osun people voted for Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (the Action Congress of Nigeria candidate). We are different in Osun. Don’t let them scare you.”

Edo

In Edo State, where the APC currently holds sway, sources close to some of the party officials told SUNDAY PUNCH that the loss of Ekiti State by the APC to the PDP shook the party.

“What happened in Ekiti was amazing. We did not expect the PDP to have such a landslide in all the local governments because our candidate had a good scorecard, when it comes to good governance.

“For instance, the provision of good roads, quality education and other amenities shows the readiness of a man to give the people of Ekiti the true dividends of democracy,” the source said.

Another party faithful, who simply gave his name as Mike, said, “I think my party might have soft-pedalled at some point. But it is a big eye-opener for Edo State in 2016. We will tighten all loose ends. We will not take chances at all because there is no room for the PDP here,” he said.

In a telephone interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, the state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Godwin Erhahon, however, described the Ekiti showdown as a display of Fayemi’s patriotic approach to governance which President Jonathan should emulate.

He said, “I think Jonathan should learn from the patriotism and democratic spirit of the Ekiti Governor (Kayode Fayemi), who accepted defeat even when there were reasons for him to protest.”

The Secretary to the State Government, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, in an interview with one of our correspondents, attributed the APC loss in Ekiti State to tactical error, stressing that the APC had gone to the drawing board to analyse the situation towards learning some lessons and preventing them from occurring again.

Ogun

In Ogun State, the defeat has started to affect the governance style of the state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

One of our correspondents gathered that the governor has launched a ‘welfarist agenda,’ aimed at paying more attention to the people’s welfare.

Amosun revealed this on Tuesday at the Arcade Ground of the Governor’s Office, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta while handing over severance cheques to former political appointees, who served between 2007 and 2011.

It was observed that the civil servants were paid their monthly salaries on Tuesday, June 24, 2014, as against the practice of making such payments between 10th and 15th of the other month.

The governor had also taken a step further by holding a stakeholders meeting with the civil servants at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta on Wednesday. Many of the civil servants were aggrieved because they felt they were not getting a fair treatment from the current administration.

In addition, the governor has scheduled meetings with different groups, including the Nigeria Labour Congress.

When contacted for official reaction on the defeat of Fayemi, the factional state Publicity Secretary of the APC loyal to Amosun, Mr. Sola Lawal, said the party had nothing to say.

He said, “We have no comment.”

Kwara

In Kwara State, investigations by SUNDAY PUNCH revealed that the APC, in an apparent move to guard against a recurrence of the party’s defeat in Ekiti, had taken strategic decisions on youth empowerment programmes, grassroots mobilisation and empowerment of artisans, traders, commercial drivers and commercial cyclists.

It was also gathered that the party had evolved strategies to woo more students in the state, especially eligible voters into its fold.

A source also informed our correspondent that elected public officials of the party had been asked to redouble their empowerment and mass mobilisation drives.

The sources described the defeat of Fayemi was a big shock.

It was gathered that the party had decided to field only popular candidates and that the party leaders had started having meetings with defected party members with a view to wooing them back to the APC.

The APC in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Sulyman Buhari, said the Kwara State election results would not be “rigged, manipulated and announced in PDP’s favour from Abuja.”

He also said the party would field only popular candidates in all its elections, adding that every member of the APC was sad that the party lost a state.

He said, “We are making efforts to appease some of the APC members that defected to the PDP. Many of those that left are already coming back. I held meetings with two groups few hours ago.”

Lagos

The outcome of the Ekiti State governorship election also caused panic among leaders of the APC in Lagos State as the party has held meetings where the implications of the election have been discussed.

According to a leader of the party in Lagos, who pleaded anonymity, there have been meetings at different levels in the party where the party’s strategy towards retaining the state in 2015, in spite of threats by the PDP, were discussed.

Apparently, one of such was the closed door meeting Governor Babatunde Fashola had with the vice-chairmen of the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas at the State House, Marina, on Thursday.

Fashola’s comment on the Ekiti election after the meeting was an indication that APC’s chance in Lagos governorship election in February, 2015, must have been a reasonable item of discussion at the meeting.

While fielding questions from journalists, Fashola was quoted as saying, “The lessons that are supposedly coming out of Ekiti are frightening lessons for me. Lesson about whether the people of Ekiti are really saying that this is all about money and rice. It must be a very dangerous message to simply suggest that once you give people money, then this is the way it will happen.”

A member of the APC, Mr. Gbenga Fakoya, confirmed that the outcome of the Ekiti election underscored the need to make adjustments to the party’s strategy for campaigns.

“Before now, we could go to bed and take it for granted that the South-West belonged to the APC; but the Ekiti election has shown us that we can no longer take anything for granted. More work needs to be done. There is no more room for assumption, we need to face reality.”

He said after the Ekiti loss, APC leaders had gone back to the drawing board and part of what had been decided was to establish proper internal democracy.

Rivers

No doubt, the APC defeat in Ekiti has not only stunned the Rivers APC, it has made the party to adopt quick measures against similar defeat.

A source, who is a strong member of the state APC, told SUNDAY PUNCH that what happened in Ekiti was worrisome and that the outcome of the election meant more works would be done by the APC in the Rivers.

The source, who preferred not to be mentioned, explained that despite Fayemi’s good performance, he lost the election because he was not on the ground.

“What happened in Ekiti was worrisome to us. But we learnt that Fayemi was not on ground in terms of being close to the voters. Even with the good works he did in the area of people-oriented projects, they said he was not on ground,” the source said.

He said the governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, would strategise to put measures in place to ensure APC’s victory in forthcoming elections in the state.

Amaechi’s Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, attributed the failure of the APC to win in Ekiti State to overconfidence, saying that there was also the lack of relationship between Fayemi and the voting population.

He said, “The circumstances in Ekiti and Rivers are not the same. There are very peculiar circumstances. What played out in Ekiti was an issue of overconfidence.

“Overconfidence was at the fore, based on performance, and there was no relationship with the voting population. Of course, you know that Nigeria is not yet attuned to the politics of development. People are eager for what will go into their stomach; the issue of stomach infrastructure was not addressed.”

Borno/ Yobe/ Adamawa

Although SUNDAY PUNCH investigations revealed that the APC members in Borno and Yobe states did not feel threatened by the turn of events in Ekiti, the same cannot be said of Adamawa State.

The Publicity Secretary of the APC in Borno , Makinta Zarami, said, “The PDP has never won the governorship election in Borno State before,” and still had no chances to do so.

Similarly, an APC member in Yobe State told one of our correspondents the success of PDP in Ekiti could never be “replicated here.”

He asked, “Where is the structure they want to build on? They may even suffer devastating loss worse than in the past here as the insurgency has further nailed the party coffin in the state.”

In Adamawa, the finding was that victory could go either way, for PDP or APC.

An analyst said, “Adamawa, even when Abubakar Atiku vied for presidency under the ACN, voted for PDP and the same scenario may play out this time around.”

“The party will still win the state; Atiku and Nyako cannot dictate the destiny of the state for there are other bigwigs within the PDP that can still dictate the politics of the state.”




http://www.punchng.com/news/ekiti-defeatapc-govs-woo-workers-appease-members-others

APC on the brink!!!

Where are them APC e-warriors?

It's very funny. Aregbesola have started having several meetings with different set of workers, one was held on friday with teachers. The government had already stopped the distribution of school uniforms as parents have been urged to buy for there wards, people were amazed to see the deputy governor who also double as commissioner for education distributing uniforms to some student in Osogbo. These people are desperate, but it can't just work for them any longer.

If long term beneficial projects were abandoned because the electorate in Ekiti voted for a person who had meet their immediate needs then I foresee greater infrastructural decay in next few years. I am confidence that in few years to this time ppl will understands.

Most Ekiti voters in last election voted for what they WANT not what they NEED. It is a battle between immediate enjoyment/future risks and immediate risks/future benefits.

I believe is better to cry then laugh than to laugh then cry.

^^So masses should continue to be hungry while infrastructures are been developed (which is not even so), so you're saying that APC government invest in infrastructure at the detriment of the people who will use them. The truth is they can strike the balance between investing in the masses and investing in infrastructure. When people are hungry, they don't see anything you've done (that is if there is anything extraordinary they've done so far)

Now you are treating the electorates well because you have realised your seat is in danger, after the election what happens, you go back to your old ways of paying your e-warriors instead of paying Osun workers, you go back to your old ways of treating the Osun people poorly because you don't need their votes again. People are not fools, at the election day you shall hear from them, thank God for secret ballot system.
According to Punch even the workers of popular Osun youth empowerment scheme O'YES had not been paid for months. Wait oh before now APC supporters lied that Aregbesola was doing perfectly well, now why is he panicking?

Where is Gbawe the liar?

they should start giving out bags of rice too......cuz Nigerians don't think, they want their share of the national cake urgently just like the super eagles

thegreatman4ww: If long term beneficial projects were abandoned because the electorate in Ekiti voted for a person who had meet their immediate needs then I foresee greater infrastructural decay in next few years. I am confidence that in few years to this time ppl will understands.

Most Ekiti voters in last election voted for what they WANT not what they NEED. It is a battle between immediate enjoyment/future risks and immediate risks/future benefits.

I believe is better to cry then laugh than to laugh then cry.

Did APC share money and rice in Ekiti or not? APC has no moral right to accuse PDP of inducing the electorates with gift because they did the same thing.

BekeeBuAgbara: Did APC share money and rice in Ekiti or not?

According to reports both APC and PDP share money and that of rice rumours have it that both of them share same.
I haven't been to Ekiti during this election period but in all reports both internationally and local affirmed that Fayemi (talking of individual not party) has done great in terms of infrastructural development to the state far better than Fayose only that he don't effectively communicate and include the governed in his overral policies, he is not very close to the grassroots at the same time to be able to have clear understanding of balancing the immediate needs with his great vision for the state.
Take for example (not praising him) Amosun of Ogun state on road construction started with his father house demolition then Obasanjo before moving across other state, though he too didn't carry the masses along but that reduces resistances from public.
I am advocate of maximum of four parties where no one party will have up to one third control of politics in any political settings. So be rest assure that I am not a politicallt affiliated.

thegreatman4ww: If long term beneficial projects were abandoned because the electorate in Ekiti voted for a person who had meet their immediate needs then I foresee greater infrastructural decay in next few years. I am confidence that in few years to this time ppl will understands.

Most Ekiti voters in last election voted for what they WANT not what they NEED. It is a battle between immediate enjoyment/future risks and immediate risks/future benefits.

I believe is better to cry then laugh than to laugh then cry.

Abeg forget story. If I cannot survive today, who cares about tomorrow? Besides, you cannot assume that the ousted governor Fayemi really had any viable "long term beneficial projects" in the pipeline. What he had were projects to enrich his Master Thiéfnubu, and benefit the arrogant elite. The masses never ask for too much. They only need the basics - a sense of belonging, portable water, decent roads, a means of livelihood, steady salaries, affordable education/healthcare, low-cost housing (NOT Fashola's overpriced rubbish), affordable transportation (NOT Fashola's ridiculously expensive metro cab nonsense), etc. That's all.

Fayemi's supposed developmental mindset is a myth. He was disconnected from the everyday reality of the common man, just like his more evil/elitist brother in Lagos - the insufferable Fashola.

Since the masses voted you into office, you MUST do what THEY want. You're not a a self-appointed and all-knowing emperor, and you have no right to impose your obnoxious and unbearable policies on them in the name of development. If you are incapable of working for the masses, then you have no business in public office. Stay in your private business and implement your elitist ideas there.

pleas advice https://www.nairaland.com/1790903/see-bad-girl-o tank.

so aregbesola could pay salaries early......shame on APC

I swear, APC no dey do "homework", very bad student.

na Lagos own go worse pass. fashola behaves as if the people of Badagry are not existing
by 2015 he will know. Bleep APC

thegreatman4ww: If long term beneficial projects were abandoned because the electorate in Ekiti voted for a person who had meet their immediate needs then I foresee greater infrastructural decay in next few years. I am confidence that in few years to this time ppl will understands.

Most Ekiti voters in last election voted for what they WANT not what they NEED. It is a battle between immediate enjoyment/future risks and immediate risks/future benefits.

I believe is better to cry then laugh than to laugh then cry.

You did justice to the piece based on your limited understanding of the situation in Ekiti. Fayemi was totally rejected because he ran an elitist government that Ekiti nay Nigeria is not ripe for. His government was too expensive for the agrarian Ekiti. He milked the people dry without empowering them. Like others said, Fayemi’s government like other APC governors was very corrupt and vindictive. An election whereby all civil servants, teachers, students, and artisans voted was totally disconnected from the people they were leading. Let me make it clear to you that your prayers and prophecies will not be answered. While Fayose distributed 10kg of rice + N2000 to students, Fayemi shared 50kg of branded rice + N5000. Lastly, except Fayemi change his attitude and the people he surrounds himself with also connects with the people, Ekitis will not vote for him in 2018.

gunuvi: na Lagos own go worse pass. fashola behaves as if the people of Badagry are not existing
by 2015 he will know. Bleep APC

Ojo Alaba Int'l mkt road is the worst i have ever see in my entire life

salaksmana: It's very funny. Aregbesola have started having several meetings with different set of workers, one was held on friday with teachers. The government had already stopped the distribution of school uniforms as parents have been urged to buy for there wards, people were amazed to see the deputy governor who also double as commissioner for education distributing uniforms to some student in Osogbo. These people are desperate, but it can't just work for them any longer.

lmao!!!!

Although i have never been a fan of the corruption tolerating PDP, i have always also maintained that the AC/APC is a party that is disconnected from the ordinary Nigerian. They behave as if the poor masses are not relevant and only the elites and their party leaders matter to them. That is why i get annoyed when they brand themselves Progressives. A progressive party that charge exhobibant school fees (i thought free education was the hallmark of progressives), a progressive party that builds a two bedroom apartment and sells it for N5,000,000 each. A progressive that builds roads and bridges and toll it. APC need to ask Jakande and former UPN chieftains what progressive means.

What happened in Ekiti is a good Omen to Nigeria, it is brought APC from their high horse. When people talk about APC being developmental Infrastructurally, i ask how many infrastructure has APC build that favours the masses. All we hear of are elitists projects that has no bearing on the poor masses. I wish PDP present a credible candidiate to repeat the Ekiti experience in Lagos.

See desperation https://www.nairaland.com/1790947/osun-poll-oyegun-tinubu-aregbesola

I don't know why some fools see this as an APC problem just because PDP won in Ekiti State due to the popularity and closeness of Fayose to his people. This should serve as a lesson to politicians whether you are in APC or PDP that if you do not practice grassroot politics,there's no way you can win the hearts of the masses. Ekiti election is an an opener and I expect all politicians especially Jonathan to buckle up because what happened in Ekiti will happen at the Federal level.

The people living in apc controlled states are as poor as other nigerians.

So if the poor masses voted them out, it's justified.

Likewise in other states controlling by other parties.

politico southwestisis, is an interesting phenomenon that should be studied by political scientists worldwide. I like the way my people use their votes to tell polititheifian how they feel about them. no amount of cosmetic development will save anyone. come 2015 we gonna speak with our votes to the dumbskull called gej. and to the animals from across the Niger, hyperventilating on issues that is non of their business, this is how politics is played not the animalistic charade that is obtainable in your part of the divide.

raphead: politico southwestisis, is an interesting phenomenon that should be studied by political scientists worldwide. I like the way my people use their votes to tell polititheifian how they feel about them. no amount of cosmetic development will save anyone. come 2015 we gonna speak with our votes to the dumbskull called gej. and to the animals from across the Niger, hyperventilating on issues that is non of their business, this is how politics is played not the animalistic charade that is obtainable in your part of the divide.

you cant keep Ekiti , your thinking of taking Nigeria
keep consoling your failure

is it not the same ekiti a graduate ran from to come and do suicidal stunts in Akwa Ibom

rozayx5:

you cant keep Ekiti , your thinking of taking Nigeria
keep consoling your failure

is it not the same ekiti a graduate ran from to come and do suicidal stunts in Akwa Ibom

animalistic militant running on cheap amnesty scholarship. next time use your goat brain when reading post. simpleton od'ed on crude oil.

raphead:

animalistic militant running on cheap amnesty scholarship. next time use your goat brain when reading post. simpleton od'ed on crude oil.

who told you am running on scholarship

You dont even know who i am , goat

come feb 15 2015, you can hang yourself

rozayx5:

who told you am running on scholarship

You dont even know who i am , goat

come feb 15 2015, you can hang yourself

bwahhaaaaahhaaaa animal sired by knucklehead high on rat piss. we know how the Malaysian police beat your lost soul to shape. come that date I will be thousands of miles away and look on CNN how y'all animals will maim yourself on post election violence.

raphead:

bwahhaaaaahhaaaa animal sired by knucklehead high on rat piss. we know how the Malaysian police beat your lost soul to shape. come that date I will be thousands of miles away and look on CNN how y'all animals will maim yourself on post election violence.

now i can authoritatively say your mad,
thousands of miles away in Prison who cares about where you are, you are of no use to us
if you enter my street no one will notice you

rozayx5:

now i can authoritatively say your mad,
thousands of miles away in Prison who cares about where you are, you are of no use to us
if you enter my street no one will notice you

you mean your leprous father with elephantiasis of the balls is also contending with lunacy. that really bad accept my condolences.

damn!!! this fool must be high on overdose of generator fumes, little wonder y'all low life's deserve the types of bas... tards that governs you. where is the mad man street?? a rack up dumpsite. I hope you get crushed by a mack truck, fall off a bridge, hit your empty head on the reinforcement of the bridge while sharks high on overdose of burantashi and Viagra ra....pe you to death, so you can go fraternize with Lucifer your mentor in flaming fire.

raphead:

you mean your leprous father with elephantiasis of the balls is also contending with lunacy. that really bad accept my condolences.

damn!!! this fool must be high on overdose of generator fumes, little wonder y'all low life's deserve the types of bas... tards that governs you. where is the mad man street?? a rack up dumpsite. I hope you get crushed by a mack truck, fall off a bridge, hit your empty head on the reinforcement of the bridge while sharks high on overdose of burantashi and Viagra ra....pe you to death, so you can go fraternize with Lucifer your mentor in flaming fire.

Fayose has made some people mad

rozayx5:



Fayose has made some people mad

fayose has made everyone in your family lunatic.

berem: I don't know why some fools see this as an APC problem just because PDP won in Ekiti State due to the popularity and closeness of Fayose to his people. This should serve as a lesson to politicians whether you are in APC or PDP that if you do not practice grassroot politics,there's no way you can win the hearts of the masses. Ekiti election is an an opener and I expect all politicians especially Jonathan to buckle up because what happened in Ekiti will happen at the Federal level.

berem you never tire to attack gej? Well watever u are smoking is certainly of SUPERIOR quality

So lanlehin has left apc ! Apc you don't know the thing ,pdp is teaching you the thing and you are playing with thing smh