One Wise Method Makinde Used To Pull Off A Smart Victory Over Fayose After A Long Superiority Clash

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose and incumbent Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde have been at dagger drawn with each other for a few years now.

The major bone of contention is the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the South West region of Nigeria. While Makinde is asserting his powers as the leader of the PDP in South West by virtue of his position as the only sitting Governor of the party in the region, Fayose who is a two-term Governor with more political and leadership experience see Makinde as a greenhorn who should not be the leader when he (Fayose) is there.

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And so, the superiority clash raged on. Fayose and Makinde had verbal war, cold war and all sorts of political manoeuvring for years and months since Makinde’s emergence in 2019. While all these were going on, discerning minds knew all along that the final battle would take place on the day of PDP’s election in South West. That day was yesterday being April 12, 2021. Many were expecting that Fayose and Makinde would lock horns and fight dirty. But, Makinde had another smart plan.

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READ ALSO:  Makinde is PDP leader – Fayose concedes [Video]

How Makinde pulled off a smart victory over Fayose

Makinde pulled off a smart one ahead of yesterday’s election. Makinde knew that fighting Fayose in the way many expected it would not pay him well. This is because Fayose has little or nothing to lose even if he loses the superiority clash. After all, Fayose is not a candidate in that election neither is he contesting for any election or holding any elective post that will warrant him to seek reelection. So, Fayose is simply free. He is only playing the godfather role by backing candidates to help them win.

So, Makinde appealed to Fayose’s ego. Fayose needs that patronage and homage as a political godfather. He needs to be recognized and treated with honour as a Big Brother to Makinde and a two-time Governor who has been through the roads that Makinde is about to ply through. That was what Makinde realized and he did just that to win Fayose over. He did the needful by reaching out to Fayose and paying him the required homage and convincing Fayose to allow the popularity of candidates and votes of the delegates to determine who wins. Makinde also ensured that Fayose has a great say in PDP’s affairs in the South West.

Makinde also assured Fayose that he would not be sidelined in the scheme of things in PDP as the former Ekiti State Governor earlier sensed before putting up that stiff resistance. Makinde through the help of other PDP heavyweights was able to win Fayose over as they went into the election peacefully with a strong commitment to accept the outcome no matter who wins. Their main aim is to make PDP stronger and more united in South West where the party controls only one out of the six states in the region.

Makinde’s camp wins at last

At the end of the day, the candidate backed by Makinde, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja defeated the one backed by Fayose. Arapaja won the main post which is the National Vice Chairman of PDP and chairman for South West after defeating Dr Eddy Olafeso who was backed by Fayose. Arapaja got 343 votes while Olafeso got 330 votes. Just 13 votes difference! Democracy played out. The high point of the event was that Olafeso conceded defeat and accepted Arapaja’s victory in the interest of the unity of PDP. Also, Fayose embraced and sat with Makinde.

Surprisingly, Fayose went the extra mile to openly profess that Makinde is the leader and father of South West PDP. The same Fayose that had stated that Makinde cannot be his leader. Change is the only constant thing in life. It is nice that Makinde pressed the right button and was able to win Fayose over. Now that they all have accepted the results of the elections and pledged to work together, it is left to be seen how PDP will fare in South West in the coming elections.