FCT Residents Reject Fayose's Presidential Bid

Fayose's presidential bid has continued to yield negative reaction from his party as well as other citizens of Nigeria.

 

Governor Ayodele Fayose

 

Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have criticized the Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state for declaring his intention to run for the office the President in 2019 against the collective decision of his Party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), to zone the Presidency to the North.

 

Some of the residents in separate interviews with Vanguard on Friday expressed their disgust with Fayose describing the move as “politically naïve”, while others said it was a welcome development.

 

In his declaration speech, Fayose had acknowledged that the PDP zoned the Presidency to the North, but maintained that he was the man destined by God to take Nigeria out of the present political and economic stagnations.

 

Deji Adeyanju, a political activist, told Vanguard that he does not think Fayose’s ambition of becoming President in 2019 will see the light of the day. He noted that the move by Ekiti governor is not in tandem with the political reality of our country.

 

According to him, since the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999, the country’s polity has had an unwritten law of rotation of power between the South and the North every eight years. So, the North will likely support a Northerner to complete their eight years in the Presidency.

 

“The South West zone where Ayodele Fayose comes from does not have the number. Even an alliance between South-west, South-east and South-south will not produce an Ayodele Fayose Presidency because they lack the required number of spread as stipulated in the constitution.

 

“Defeating a Buhari Presidency in 2019 will be a Herculean task due to the fact that despite the incompetence and failings of his government, his supporters in the North still have confidence in him.

 

“To be candid, the opposition must not only produce a strong and credible candidate from the North, but someone who has similar cult-like following like the President,” he said.

 

Another resident, Chief Ejike Njeze, a politician, said Fayose’s declaration was “a joke, an act of desperation and an avoidable distraction.

 

According to him, “Fayose should first of all take himself serious by fulfilling his Promise to Nigerians that ‘he will commit suicide, if President Muhammadu Buhari returns alive from London’

 

“I will even personally vote for him after he has committed suicide which will confirm that Nigerians can trust him. Fayose has lost bearing completely and can only be used as an instrument confusion and distraction by the opposition Party, the PDP,” he said.

 

However, Mnena David, an entrepreneur, said Fayose’s declaration was a welcome development that would set the ball rolling for an end to the “deceptions” of Buhari government to come by 2019.

 

She said that she believes the economy will be revived and returned to the path of progress under a Fayose Presidency. “With a Fayose as President, Nigerians can be rest assured of a people-oriented government that will be responsive to their needs,” she said.

 

On his part, Charles Ude, a frontline lawyer in Abuja, said: “I actually was at the formal declaration ceremony.

“Fayose is a friend. I like Ayo for his courage.

 

He is one of the politicians that can tell the truth. He is capable and possesses the energy needed to rule this country. “He has done a fantastic job for a state like Ekiti state with little resources. He would be better than what we have now and the last two previous presidents. I will vote for him.”