TheCable

Opeyemi Bamidele, a former member of the house of representatives, says Kayode Fayemi is ready to work with everybody ahead of the Ekiti state governorship election.

Bamidele was named the director of the Fayemi governorship campaign after the latter emerged candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the July 14 poll.

Segun Oni, a former governor of Ekiti who lost the primary election, had allegedly filed a suit to challenge the legality of Fayemi, a former minister of mines and steel, as the party’s flagbearer.

In the “originating summons” seen by TheCable, Fayemi’s legitimacy was challenged partly on the grounds that he was still a minister when he contested in the party’s primary.

Insiders had told TheCable how Oni’s supporters plotted the disqualification suit against Fayemi. A group loyal to Oni had also accused Fayemi of making them irrelevant.

Reacting in a statement on Thursday, Bamidele said the door of the party is open to entertain complaints.

“We are not ruling out the possibility of people having some ill-feelings about certain issues in our party, but that should not degenerate to the level where people can act as fifth columnists in their own party,” he said.

“Ekiti APC can’t be immuned from crisis just like every other parties because we have diverse backgrounds and our temperaments differ in the way we handle issues. Let me say this, the doors of the party are wide open to entertain complaints and trash them in the interest of everybody.

“This is not the time to suspect anyone unduly. We should see ourselves as one big family and prevent anyone from hiding under social media to break our ranks.

“As the leader of Fayemi’s campaign for this election, we are ready to work with everybody and urge the leaders of all committees working within our campaign structures to be receptive to everybody and refrain from act that can lead to rancor and polarization before this election.”

Bamidele recalled how Fayemi, in his acceptance address after clinching the party’s ticket, expressed his willingness to work with all groups within the party.

“We are not going into this race with divided mind. We are going into this election to win and we are rest assured that all our members will contribute to this victory,” he added.