There are reports a few hours before the Ekiti State governorship election, that the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja may have elected to secretly work for the victory of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) as a face-saving measure.
The refusal of the party’s National Caucus and National Working Committee (NWC) to attend a mega rally in support of its governorship candidate slated for Thursday had led to its cancellation.
A top party source had confided in a select group of journalists that the party’s leader in Ekiti State, former Governor Ayo Fayose, “has sold out to the APC and betrayed our party because of money.
“We cannot delude ourselves; we have no chance in Ekiti because Fayose deliberately fielded a candidate who could not win while he made things difficult for us.
“We have consequently resolved outside of Fayose to secretly contact some of our leaders in Ekiti to work for the victory of the SDP candidate, Segun Oni.
“The PDP wants to ensure the APC does not win in Ekiti to give us a fighting chance in Osun, where we have a formidable candidate.”
Meanwhile, Fayose is considering accepting the $100,000 logistic support fund sent to the PDP in Ekiti by the PDP National Leadership.
The former governor had initially rejected the money from Abuja, describing it as “ridiculous and an insult.”
In yet another twist, Fayose is said to have reached out to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to work out a vote-buying scheme that could whittle down the votes of the SDP.
Fayose, another source said, had told Gov Kayode Fayemi and the APC candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, to make money available to the PDP to compete for votes in the SDP strongholds.
The former governor was reported in January to have conspired with the APC to deny Segun Oni the ticket of the PDP.
Ahead of the governorship election, Oni has emerged as the most popular candidate and the favourite to win the governorship election on Saturday.