Mayowa Fakande and Essien Ini

A former Governor of Ekiti State, Engr. Segun Oni has opened up on why he returned to his former party –the Peoples Democratic Party. He has also pointed out that he didn’t go to the party so that former Governor Ayo Fayose can ‘spoon-feed’ him to become the next governor of the state.

Oni was Ekiti State Governor between 2007 and 2010 under the Peoples Democratic Party. He was also a former National Vice Chairman of PDP and a former National Deputy Chairman of the APC.

In an exclusive interview with the AbujaCityJournal at the weekend, Oni who recently declared his intention to contest the 2022 gubernatorial election in Ekiti, said his decision to go back to PDP was informed by two reasons –his expulsion from the APC and collective decision of former PDP leaders to return home.  

“As a Deputy National Chairman of the APC, I believe that I have had an opportunity to contribute my own quota. But suddenly, after being Deputy National Chairman and having contributed my quota to the best of my ability, I was suspended from the party and my key supporters were also suspended from the party. The irony of it is that the suspension came from my ward,”

The former governor also expressed his regret that up till this moment, the letter of complaint his supporters wrote to former APC National Chairman, Mr. Adams Oshiomole, hasn’t been replied.

According to him, if he (Oshiomole) had done the needful at the appropriate time to save the party, he wouldn’t have suffered a similar humiliation, when his ward in his village also expelled him.

“Perhaps it is a law of retribution that the same way I was treated which he (Oshiomole) could have used to correct anomaly and lay precedence was also later extended to him. I remember I told him that Look; if someone is a national chairman of a party or deputy national chairman or even member of the NWC that he could be so treated at the ward level, it didn’t show respect. I don’t think it is right in any political party at all for a group of people to orchestrate the expulsion of a national officer of a party who has risen so high at the ward level. It’s disrespectful,” he stated.

While dismissing the rumour that he went back to PDP to leverage on the popularity of former Governor Ayo Fayose, the Ifaki Ekiti born politician retorted, stating that the decision was based on personal conviction that internal democracy and discipline was more entrenched in PDP than in APC. He also stressed that many PDP leaders, who at a time moved to APC, decided to go back to their former party after discovering that the APC wasn’t better. 

“Yes, I respect former Governor Fayose and other PDP leaders in Ekiti but it’s a wrong assumption to conclude I moved to PDP because of the former Governor. Let me reiterate this for record purpose, I was a foundation member in PDP and I was loyal to the party and our founding fathers. At a time, some of us moved out to form nPDP for some obvious reasons. From there, we joined the APC but after a while, we discovered that APC which later became our abode was not a disciplined party and didn’t give room for internal democracy. Of course, most people who came from PDP to APC across the country have since returned,” he stated.

He further stated that his experience as NWC members of both parties had given him an ample opportunity to compare and contrast the political culture of both parties and identify which is better. 

When reminded that PDP is currently a divided party in Ekiti, Oni said he was confident the issue will be resolved and that reconciliation, alignment and re-alignment are intrinsic characteristics of political party. 

Watch out for the full interview on Monday ….