Amidst denials by governor’s aides, a local government chairman has launched the 2023 presidential campaign of the Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.
The soft copy of the poster, which went viral on the various social media platforms, had begun to elicit reactions from stakeholders.
This was coming after the governor planned a major cabinet shake up.
Fayemi on Tuesday sent a fresh list of seven commissioner-nominees to the Ekiti State House of Assembly for screening.
With the latest development, it had become evident that some members of the cabinet would give way for the new appointees.
What further heightened tension was the specific reference made by the governor on the nominees put forward for clearance. The fate of many serving commissioners, whose constituencies got fresh nominees, now hung in the balance.
There had been controversies within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as some aggrieved stakeholders protested alleged exclusion of their supporters from government.
The governor had, in the last few weeks, rolled out appointments into boards and parastatals.
Although there was no official endorsement from the governor, some of his aides who initially denied Fayemi’s knowledge of the development, however, said the promoter was only exercising his opinion on the matter.
The poster bore huge portrait of Fayemi clad in blue Agbada with Awo’s type of cap to match.
READ ALSO: Ekiti Govt Not Committed To Healthcare Delivery – Striking Doctors
This was the second time such tendency would be shown by a Fayemi’s appointee.
Recall that a similar poster was sponsored by one of the commissioners in Ekiti during the last birthday anniversary in Ekiti, where he displayed a huge poster suggesting the presidential ambition of the governor ahead of the 2023 poll.
The message on the posters with APC logo read, ‘Support His Excellency, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi for President 2023’.
The chairman, Ikere Local Government, Femi Ayodele, said he did the posters to show his unalloyed and uncompromising loyalty to Governor Fayemi against insinuation that he was working against him.
He said the governor was fit enough for the exalted office considering his array of outstanding credentials, administrative shrewdness and political acumen.
He added that Fayemi’s commitment, resourcefulness and pedigree put him in good stead to lead Nigeria in the next political dispensation.
However, Yinka Oyebode, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Fayemi, said his principal did not know anything about the posters.
Oyebode, who said the sponsor was only expressing a mere personal opinion, urged the public to discountenance the campaign posters.
He added that his principal was focused on governance and how to uplift Ekiti in terms of infrastructural, economic and social development instead of issues around 2023 elections.
The Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Segun Dipe, on his own, dismissed the move, insisting that Fayemi had no such ambition.