MEMBERS of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State have celebrated the return of President Muhammad Buhari’s return from a medical trip in London with a street rally in the state capital, Ado Ekiti.
The rally, on Monday, had seen the party faithful and loyalists converge on a location at Okeyinmi from where they marched through the streets to the APC secretariat in Ajilosun area of the town.
The rallying party members had lambasted Governor Ayodele Fayose of the state for his claim in June, that President Buhari, who had left the country on May 7, was on a life support machine and that he was in a critical health condition.
The large crowd, which was made up of party supporters, civil society groups , artisans and commercial motorcycle riders, displayed placards one of which called on Governor Fayose to published the photos of Buhari on a life support machine he claimed to have, when he made the allegation.
As they marched, they also sang various songs to deride Fayose and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Addressing the rally, acting chairman of APC in the state, Mrs Kemi Olaleye, said God had shamed those wishing the President death, saying Buhari’s return would rekindle the war against corruption, insurgency and attempts by some parts of the country to secede.
She used the opportunity to allay the fear in the state chapter of the APC that the party’s primary election in preparation for the 2018 governorship poll, would be manipulated, and gave the assurance that a candidate would emerge through the unanimous voice of the party members.
Oladele said: “Mr Fayose has turned himself to propaganda-in-chief, but we are happy that God has shamed those who thought President Buhari won’t return alive. With this rally, the end has come to Governor Fayose’s reign in Ekiti.
“The good people of this state are not in support of Fayose’s action because we are cultured and compassionate people. Look at the governor of Rivers State, Mr Nyesom Wike, he went to Abuja to welcome the president back to Nigeria. That was a show of maturity. Why was our governor not learning from this?
“We are solidly behind President Buhari even beyond 2019. And we are pleading with Nigerians to discountenance whatever Fayose has been saying against the president. He was not speaking for us, he only spoke for himself.”
The coordinator of one of the rallying groups, named Progressives Youth League, Mr Adeoye Aribasoye; and a former Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the state, Mr Kolawole Olaiya, called on President Buhari to probe various bailouts and Paris Club funds that had been released to Ekiti state in recent time.
“What we learnt was that, Governor Fayose had diverted those funds to projects that have no direct relevance to the lives of our people instead of paying salaries.
“Ekiti people are respectable people with human feelings, we could not have wished Buhari dead, over what? Governor Fayose only spoke for himself.