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Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on Tuesday disagreed with former Osun State governor and pioneer chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, over the ongoing membership registration and revalidation exercise, saying it was being done in accordance with the constitution of the party.
Akande had last week while revalidating his membership of the party said the exercise was needless, adding “no population census is repeated within less than a decade and that voters are not re-registered at every election. I see the present APC membership registration within less than a decade after the original register as an indefensible aberration leading to certain ugly perceptions.”
But Fayemi while revalidating his membership of the party at his Unit 09, Ward 11 in Isan-Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State alongside his wife, Bisi, justified the decision of Mai Mala Buni-led National Caretaker Committee to go ahead with the exercise, which he said was expressly stated in Article 9 of the party’s constitution.
The governor, who described Akande as his father, explained that aside updating the database of the party, the exercise would afford members to revalidate their membership as well as allow members of the public to join the folds of the progressives, saying: “I really don’t see anything wrong in it.”
”Baba Bisi Akande is my father, I hope you know that and he is somebody I have the greatest respect for but I also read the constitution of the party. What the constitution says I believe in Article 9 is that the party register must be updated every six months. So, If this is being done in compliance with the constitution of the party, I really don’t see anything wrong in it.
“Don’t forget that Baba Akande didn’t say we should not register, as a matter of fact, he revalidated his membership in Ila-Orangun. All he said was that he really would like our party to do things in a manner that we will earn the credibility of the entire membership and I believe that is what the National Caretaker Committee has directed those conducting this exercise to do. We don’t want to deprive anybody of registering in the party and others from joining the party. It is an open field and we want everybody here,” he said.
Fayemi said that the party won’t end the exercise by getting the database of the members alone, but the party would work hard to register itself in the minds of Nigerians.
According to him, the party at the national level has placed a big task on the shoulders of political office holders from APC, to ensure that they warm themselves into the hearts of Nigerians through superlative performances at all levels.
“The revalidation and registration exercise is an opportunity for us to get a reliable database about our members and beyond that, we have tried to register APC in the minds of the people.
“We are familiar with this terrain and everywhere you go, you can see evidence of good governance all over Ekiti. You will see the construction of roads everywhere because we know that the best way to register APC in the minds of the people is by affecting their lives positively.
“APC is a party that has the competence, commitment and compassion for progressive ideals. Our people in Ekiti knew what it used to be in the past years. The former state secretary of the People’s Democratic Party, Dr Tope Aluko recently joined our party in Iyin-Ekiti and that has been happening all over the state.
“People are coming into APC in droves. This is the party to beat in any future elections because it has affected our people positively,” the governor added.
Fayemi appealed to those who wanted to dump the party to have a rethink, saying the APC remained the only progressive party where they can realise their ambitions.