Posted by By HON. AYO ADEKOYA BENSON on
A member of the Ekiti State House of assembly, Honourable Ayo Adekoya Benson has explained why he left the National Conscience Party (NCP) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), blaming it on ‘unbrearable pressures" from Mr Femi Falana, human rights activist and governorship candidate in Ekiti during the 2003 elections.
A member of the Ekiti State House of assembly, Honourable Ayo Adekoya Benson has explained why he left the National Conscience Party (NCP) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), blaming it on ‘unbrearable pressures" from Mr Femi Falana, human rights activist and governorship candidate in Ekiti during the 2003 elections.
Reacting to a recent interview granted by Mr Falana to a news magazine, Honourable Benson alleged that the governorship candidate had sought his support to embarrass Governor Fayose several times.
"I wil never join anybody to disparage an achiever" Honourable Benson said in a statement made available to Daily Sun. Below is excerpt from the statement:
"The current edition of The News Magazine particularly the interview granted to Mr. Femi Falana - Lawyer/Activist and NCP Gubernatorial Aspirant in Ekiti State has made the following clarifications necessary in view of the outrightly misleading contents thereof:
"I was a member of the PDP ab initio. I left the PDP when the party scuttled my ambition to contest for the post of Councillor in my ward during the 2003 elections. I therefore decamped to the NCP which readily offered the platform which was denied me in the PDP. Be it stated unequivocally, however, that I won the election based on my personality and popularity in both Igbaraodo and Ogotun - Ekiti and not on the assumed strength of the NCP.
"I did not know Mr. Femi Falana very well before I became a member of the NCP. In my 19 months in the PDP and 20 months in the NCP, I have had ample causes to reflect on the public posture of Mr. Femi Falana as a Lawyer/Activist. These attributes have to be related with the ambition and capacity of Mr Falana to be governor of Ekiti State.
"Characteristically, Mr Falana imposed upon himself the unwholesome roles of an accuser, prosecutor and judge in The News Magazine edition under reference where he simply distorted facts to mislead the Nigerian reading public. The true fact is that I was part of the democracy rally on Saturday May 28, 2005 in Ado-Ekiti between the Government House Gate - the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado - Ekiti. There was no place or time where Governor Ayo Fayose personally attacked the rampaging crowd of the Alliance for Democracy that day. It was actually the AD crowd that blocked the route of the Democracy Rally which Governor Fayose led and started to hurl missiles on sighting the Governor who symbolized the authority of the Government of Ekiti State as at today and who represents the collective destiny of the Ekiti People regardless of political party divides.
What could be worse than the discovery that the AD did not even obtain a police permit for its shameful conduct which it called a rally!
The facts cannot be controverted and any right thinking politician in Ekiti State who has a future to look up to will recognize the good works of Governor Fayose as evidenced by several development projects that are on ground. You can call Governor Fayose any name, but nobody can take from him the capacity for service delivery and total acceptance by the grassroots. Fayose commands the unflinching acceptance of the average man in Ekiti State. Drive round Ekiti State in the last two years and you will be astounded by the several development projects that abound and you cannot help but start to ask yourself when all these projects started. I personally couldn't believe all these until they started happening.
"I decided to leave the NCP because of unbearable pressures from Mr. Falana. I will never join anybody to disparage an achiever. With my exit from the NCP, the party in Ekiti State had lost its little iota of relevance and reckoning. This is the crux of the rantings of Mr Falana which members of the public should know. Also, I have chosen to ignore the threats of physical assault and court action emanating from Mr. Falana. I am not the first and will not be the last to ditch what had become a conspiracy.
"Mr Falana and his cohorts should accept fate and allow the reign of peace in Ekiti State. The Council of Obas in Ekiti State should call Mr Falana to order. He should be advised to borrow a leaf from the likes of elder statesmen like Chiefs Akin Omoboriowo, S. K. Babalola, Sola Akinyede etc who have reconciled with Governor Fayose at this period of the development of Ekiti State. Any distraction to the governor is a sure invitation to delay in the development of Ekiti State. The Governor Fayose should carry on with his good works and ignore the see-no-good critics of his administration.
"God bless this administration."