By Rotimi Ojomoyela

Ado Ekiti-The Deputy Director General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Council, Hon. Bamidele Faparusi, has said the crowd that attended the Peoples Democratic Party mega rally in Ado-Ekiti last week Thursday was not a true reflection of the popularity of the party and Governor Ayo Fayose in Ekiti.

Mamoth crowd at the Ekiti Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mega Rally in Ado-Ekiti

He said the people that attended the rally were allegedly cajoled by Fayose to scam the governors of funds.

Faparusi said most of the crowd that attended the mega rally where 11 PDP governors were present and party’s National Chairman, Chief Uche Secodus, were civil servants and those who have applied for the 2,000 vacancies announced by the state government in the state civil service.

The member of the seventh House of Representatives urged the PDP governors to be vigilant to prevent being swindled by the governor under the guise of being popular.

The rally attended by Vice President Abubakar Atiku was organized in Ado Ekiti to drum support for the candidate of the party , Prof Kolapo Olusola.

Speaking to newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Sunday, Faparusi said he could say confidently that Fayose’s popularity has nose-dived and that most of those he relied on had abandoned him for the All Progressives Congress(APC), a party they know could protect their interest.

The former federal parliamentarian also raised the alarm over alleged arms proliferation and harbouring of thugs by members of the PDP in preparation for the July 14 gubernatorial election, saying the
security chiefs must investigate the accusations and bring those connected to justice.

“We have it on good authority that most of the PDP governors, especially the ones from the oil rich states of the South -South were showing lukewarm attitudes to fund this election, because of the forlorn hope the gale of defections and inability to pay salaries have created.

“But for the Governor to disabuse their minds and create the impression that he was still popular and acceptable, he decided to declare a public holiday for civil servants to attend.
“He even coerced them to register through some proxies to indicate that they attended and threatened punitive actions should they fail to appear.

“Again, Governor Fayose being what he is played a fast one on the job seekers. Those innocent children who applied for jobs based on 2,000 vacancies declared in the State civil service also attended just to create an imaginary popularity that will be exposed on Saturday.

“The PDP governors must be circumspect in dealing with a conman whose preoccupation is to get money under false pretext during electioneering.

“In 2014, Fayose as a governorship candidate of the PDP collected over N10 billion from the presidency of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to fund the election. Instead of appropriating the funds to party members for the purpose of mobilizing the electorate, he deployed the slush fund to
buy property in Lagos, Abuja, Ado Ekiti and Ibadan.

“The outcome of the investigations conducted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) which led to the confiscation of Governor Fayose’s property and bank accounts confirmed these facts.

“The worse Governor Fayose did was that, in spite of being heavily mobilized with funds beyond what he requested for to win election, he decided to dupe other party members like Senator Buruji Kashamu to the tune of N2.1 billion which he later paid back through the state’s funds.

“The PDP governors must not to walk into a cul-de-sac by funding the campaign. I want to say that whatever they release to the State will be used by the governor to procure property, because he knew he would lose this election”, he stated.

Faparusi called on the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Bello Ahmed and the Director of the Department of State Security(DSS), Mrs Promise Ihenacho to beam their searchlights on the government house and buildings belonging to some PDP chieftains, they are allegedly using to stockpile arms and provide shield for thugs.

“We have done our findings and insiders from the PDP , who are close to the governor had revealed how arms were being stockpiled in the government house which will be distributed to the houses of some PDP bigwigs in all the 16 local governments three days to election to rig the poll.

“We are raising the alarm and calling the attentions of the security agencies to these wicked act that can truncate democracy and ignite crisis in Ekiti . They must rise to the occasion and ensure that Fayose and his gang are prevented from turning Ekiti to a war zone”, he concluded.