Dayo Adeyeye, the national chairman of the South West Agenda For Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu 2023, SWAGA, has said no ward congress was held in Ekiti State on Saturday.
One person was killed as the congress turned violent following a clash between Tokan-Tokan and SWAGA groups of the party
At a press conference in Ado Ekiti on Sunday, August 1, 2021, Adeyeye who demanded another congress said the one held on Saturday was a charade.
He said; “The Ward Congresses purportedly took place in Ekiti State. But the manner of its conduct was nothing near all democratic norms as it was warped, disorderly, perverse, and can only pass for a charade.
“Extreme violence was visited on people in places like Ijero, Ado Ekiti, and Oye Local councils, leading to one death in Ado Ekiti Ward 10 with several others wounded and properties destroyed.
“We are hereby telling the CECPC, our party members nationwide and indeed, all Nigerians, that there was no congress in Ekiti State yesterday. What happened was a charade that cannot pass the test of democracy and it is totally unacceptable.”
He alleged that ”Prior to the congresses, the Tokan-Tokan, a group loyal to the state governor Kayode Fayemi, had constituted for themselves a 7-man electoral committee, with no input from any party stakeholders in the state.
“This is even as the CECPC had earlier advised that effort be geared towards the peaceful resolution of conflicts so that the APC could birth consensus delegates across board”
He also alleged that the Tokan-Tokan group mobilized its people from other wards to conduct congress in Ado Ekiti ward 8 on Sunday morning.
Ade Ajayi, the APC spokesman in the state, denied the allegations by the group on the process of the congress, saying every member was allowed to participate in the congress.
He said; ”I can tell you that nobody was deprived of the congress today (Saturday) and we hope that it will be an acceptable one by the stakeholders. It is a blatant lie to say that people were deprived, people participated in the process.”
