From Priscilla Ediare, Ado Ekiti

Following the crisis that emanated from the January 26 People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary in Ekiti State, a faction loyal to Senator Biodun Olujimi on Tuesday said it would make its decision as to whether or not it will remain in the party known on Sunday.

Olujimi disclosed this in Ado-Ekiti after a meeting with members of her faction to deliberate on alleged shoddy treatment and injustice meted out to her in the PDP governorship primaries and the resultant post-primary crisis.

Olujimi who contested the shadow poll but later pulled out of the governorship race over alleged irregularities said that whether to stay or leave the opposition PDP is the decision to be collectively made after due consultation and deliberation would have been concluded.

She said that his faction had constituted a committee under the chairmanship of former acting governor Tunji Odeyemi to consult widely with her loyalists in all the 16 local government areas and turn in its report.

The senator representing the Ekiti South Senatorial District said his faction’s next line of political action would depend on the recommendations of the report to be submitted in the coming days which will be made public.

“Well, we just came to hold a meeting with a few of our people whereby we could brief them about happenings in the party. You know there were erroneous beliefs over the time on having been betrayed by the leadership of the group. So we needed to clear the air on that and we have cleared the air so that they got know what was really on the ground.

Related News

“So, we have briefed them and told them of the situation on the ground and they told us of what they think and their feelings. And we decided to set up a committee headed by the former acting governor, Tunji Odeyemi with a timeline of three days in which to report back to us on what the large house has agreed to do. And then we will have a larger meeting on Sunday where we would take a proper decision and what we will do.

“There are options on the table. One that we would all go and kneel down and beg former governor Ayodele Fayose that we have sinned and we are returning back to his fold. Two, that we should pull out of the party. And we say that can’t be done in a hurry because tempers are high and we need them to calm down to be able to talk and hold a big meeting on Sunday when we would announce to the public where we are going,” she added.

Olujimi expressed sadness that the party she sacrificed for its growth would pay her back with evils, adding that she was being treated badly by the PDP national leadership due to her gender.

“We are no longer children and we have been in this business for quite some time. If it is a former governor that is a sitting Senator, can they do what has happened to me? No. My gender has affected and beyond that, the fact that people take everybody for granted has also affected all of us. You can’t take people for granted.”

She dismissed as a ruse and monumental falsehood the claim by former governor Ayodele Fayose that he had reached out to her for reconciliation, saying neither he nor anyone called her for peace talk.

Olujimi explained that the claim was part of the grand ploys by Fayose to deceive the unsuspecting members of the public and portray himself in a good light in the faces of the people.

“It was a pure falsehood. Fayose didn’t call me. All he only did was post the pictures of Bisi Kolawole’s entry into Ado-Ekiti onto my phones. I saw them and I didn’t reply. It is when they speak to you that you know something is happening. I am not bothered because we have been in this business for a while,” she said.