Why PDP performed poorly in Ekiti, by chieftain

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Prince Diran Odeyemi, has blamed the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and the National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, for the poor performance it experienced in last weekend’s Ekiti State governorship election.

Odeyemi, a former deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, also alleged that Pdp Governors abandoned teeming members of the party in Ekiti State during the poll. 

According to him, they refused to campaign for the party’s candidate, Bisi Kolawole.

Odeyemi said these in a statement he issued in Osogbo, the state capital.

The PDP chieftain noted that after the party’s loss of Ekiti State, Ayu and Atiku, as well as other stakeholders should know that the fate of the main opposition party in the 2023 general election is tied to the outcome of Osun governorship election.

He urged them to focus on how the PDP could win the Osun State poll to save the party from extinction in 2023.

Odeyemi said Ayu, PDP governors, including Atiku’s absence in Ekiti before the election to campaign for Kolawole before the poll, created negative perception and contributed significantly to the party’s poor outing in the election. 

“Atiku, Ayu and PDP governors left the people of Ekiti, majority of whom support PDP in the cold. They looked up to these personalities but they never showed up before or during the poll.

“The National Campaign Council constituted by Ayu was put in place just four days before the poll and no member of the committee showed up in the state, whereas APC presidential candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu, the entire National Working Committee (NWC) of APC and some governors were in Ekiti campaigning for Biodun Oyebanji.

“Nothing of such happened under Ayu-led PDP National Working Committee. This is sad.

“Now that the chances of PDP retaining Ekiti has been thrown out by the Ayu-led national leadership, we need to remind Atiku, Ayu, and other leaders of PDP that the fate of our party in the 2023 general election rests on the outcome of Osun poll. They must do all they can to ensure victory for our candidate, Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke,” Odeyemi said.

THE NATION