The Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party chairmanship contest took a new turn on Saturday as elders and stakeholders in the party endorsed Bisi Kolawole, the anointed aspirant of former Governor Ayodele Fayose, for the position.
They also endorsed the candidacy of Mr Joseph Omolase as the preferred secretary in the congress which would climax on April 2.
The PDP State Working Committee had in a statement last week dissociated itself from any consensus arrangement, saying aspirants for positions in the congress would be elected through transparent democratic exercise.
But the party elders and leaders, in a communiqué at the end of their meeting in Ado Ekiti, stated that “the decision to endorse Kolawole was taken after consultation across the length and breadth of the state.”
An elder, Chief Idowu Odeyemi, who read the communiqué, said the step taken did not amount to imposition,
The communique added, “We have only expressed our right to endorse our preferred candidate, which means other groups can also endorse their own as well.
“We have to say, however, that this endorsement by the elders does not foreclose the right to participate, which means the race is still open.
“The elders are aware that other groups within the party have also endorsed their preferred candidates. We will meet them at the congress. We are not imposing candidates, we have only expressed our right. The party is one and after the congress, we shall remain one.”
Reacting to the endorsement, Fayose, who said his open support for Kolawole was to move the party forward, said, “We are not doing this to score any point, we are only looking for somebody who can manage our party, especially that we don’t have a sitting governor.”
