Governor Ayodele Fayose has begun deft moves to abandon his own party, PDP, and its candidate, Barrister Eyitayo Jegede, to help the Alliance for Democracy candidate, Olusola Oke, win the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State.

Jegede's is Mimiko's acolyte and a perceived surrogate that Mimiko hopes to use to sustain his control of Ondo PDP and to a larger extent the South West politics, a political calculation that has set Fayose and Mimiko against each other in the South West PDP leadership ranks.

Reliable sources disclosed to Fast News that Fayose's alleged romance with AD is not unconnected with the latest schism within the APC in what looks like a development that will create a new realignment with the leadership of the Alliance for Democracy, culminating in Bola Ilori's defection from APC to AD and his subsequent choice as Oke's head of campaign organisation.

The development, political watchers say, bears the imprint of a nod by Ilori's political godfather, Rauf Aregbesola, who recently visited Fayose in Ado-Ekiti to hint on a realignment of forces that would come "sooner than later".

Aregbe himself left no one in doubt of his relationship with Fayose when he made a public declaration that Fayose is "omoluabi" and that "sooner than later" political realignment would begin, ostensibly to accommodate Fayose.

It will be recalled that Aregbe has a long history of relationship with Fayose, with cynics alleging that Aregbe helped to fund Fayose's election. Fayose himself admitted that much in his Punch interview at the weekend that he had many things in common with Aregbe, including history of long relationship.

Since relationship snapped within the APC leadership ranks in Ekiti State, observers are of the opinion that Aregbe has pandered more to Fayose than APC leadership in Ekiti State, which accounted for Ekiti APC's recent criticism of Aregbe for visiting Fayose without putting it on notice.

Sources said Fayose's move cannot be divorced from the latest rapprochement between him and Aregbe to lay foundation for the realignment envisaged pre-2018 politics, explaining that Fayose is trying to make a point by starting early to identify with the coalition that is being envisaged with the realignment.

A source however said: "Fayose believes that Bola Ilori will not move to AD without Aregbe's blessing. Aregbe will not on the other hand contemplate any political move without getting the nod of Bourdillon. So Fayose is moving fast to make himself relevant in the South West politics by working for AD while abandoning his own party.

"Fayose is aware that PDP is finished in the South West with a slim chance to survive at the national level.

"Mimiko's problem with Fayose is further compounded by the no love lost relationship between him and Mimiko over PDP leadership in the South West.

"Fayose has not forgiven Mimiko for his successful lobby to take charge of President Goodluck Jonathan's second term campaign in the South West after Fayose's failed bid to be at the top of the South West campaign team to enable him keep Jonathan's campaign funds in his charge. And with PDP's fortunes plummeting in the South West, Fayose is trying to use the present hiccups within APC to quickly fix into a scheme he is confident to feel safe because of his relationship with Aregbe."

It was also learnt that Fayose's intervention in Ondo election has a twin objectives of undoing Mimiko in the South West politics and at the same time using it to support any move that can help dismantle APC and to a larger extent bring APC government down at the Federal level.

Another source explained: "Fayose is not new to fighting his own party when the mantle of leadership is not in his grip. He did it in 2009 to support Fayemi against his own party during rerun.

"You can see that he quickly dumped Ali Modu Sheriff when it became clear to him that he would find it difficult to realise his ambition working with Sheriff.

"Fayose has already deployed his foot soldiers in Ondo State to mobilise support for Oke.

His strategy is to infiltrate the ranks of his supporters and other Ekiti people living in Akure and then expand his campaign strategy to mobilise other segments of the society across the state.

"But Fayose is not doing this for free; he is eyeing some goodies from Oke and his backers, just like he did in 2009 for ACN during election rerun in Ekiti State during which he made fortunes.

"He already erroneously believes that Tinubu is aggrieved and ready to do battle with APC and so he is positioning himself for the election windfall from Bourdillon.

"In fact, you can see the way he has been supporting Tinubu of recent, saying he would do anything to criticise any attempt to pull Tinubu down politically as Yoruba leader, yet this is same Tinubu against whom Fayose sponsored a smear campaign of calumny in a documentary during the last presidential election to ruin his political career and was running that documentary on Ekiti television everyday two time even after Tinubu got the courts and NBC's nod to stop broadcasting the documentary. Can you see Fayose's hypocrisy and opportunism?

"But with reports suggesting that Tinubu is not willing to destroy the party (APC) he helped to build, don't be surprised if Fayose withdraws from Oke, not because he wants Mimiko's candidate to win, but that the money he expects will no longer be available.

"Fayose's anti-Mimiko sentiment is still real. If he can't use Oke to have his pound of flesh from Mimiko, his current mood suggests he will still do anything to undo Mimiko to enable him have a firm grip on PDP in the South West as the only surviving PDP governor after he would have worked against his own party to send Mimiko out of reckoning.

No na Aisha Buhari party he will work with

get well soon

There is nothing wrong in political realignment, but Fayose remain a loyal PDP man for now

What is breaking about the news ? As if FAYOSE is somebody in PDP.

OKE GBEMI

OK

@OP lie muhhamed must be your brother

The person that paid you to put up such a shambolic article lacks political wisdom! Pm barcanista to learn the nitty-gritty of compiling a good article.

Op see what smoking of wet weed had caused, National embarrassment. I know the person below me will recommend you to visit a psychiatrist

see more facts on how Fayose abandon Jegede and Mimiko on Ondo Poll@>>>http://fastnews.com.ng/fayose-works-for-ads-olusola-oke-abandons-jegede-in-ondo-poll/