5. Fayose’s popularity
He might have a murder rap still hanging over his head and one or two issues to sort out with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), but the candidate of the PDP and winner of the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, is immensely popular. He is a strong grassroots mobiliser who understands the language of the common people. His position and words resonate with them so much that they see him as part of them. Across the three senatorial zones, Fayose remains a very popular politician whom the electorate was ready to forgive for his past “sins” and give him their mandate. During his campaigns, he was pulling massive crowds anywhere he went. In fact, during the mega rally in Ado-Ekiti when President Goodluck Jonathan came to present the PDP flag to him, his vests were being sold to party members when ordinarily, they should have been distributed free of charge. In contrast, Fayemi, despite being governor for almost four years, still did not have that touch with the common man. They saw him as a “foreigner” and “intellectual” who they knew little about.
