Ekiti APC Youths kick against nomination of Makinde Araoye as member of presidential inauguration committee

The leadership of Ekiti-Kete APC Youths Frontier (EYF), a youth-based political umbrella body of eminent Ekiti sons and daughters who are members of the All Progressives Congress, have rejected the nomination of Makinde Araoye as a member of the Presidential Inauguration Committee.

In a statement which was jointly signed by the President and Secretary of group, Prince Bayo Ajayi and Famuyiwa Ige on Friday in Abuja after the meeting held in Ado Ekiti said, the nomination was done in bad faith, hence, Araoye should not be sworn in as a Committee member.

The statement read: “That the nomination of Makinde Araoye to the Venue, Parade and Swearing-in Subcommittee of the much-awaited inauguration committee as confirmed by Mr Dele Alake, the Special Adviser to the President-elect contained in several media reports was done in bad faith and hereby stands rejected by entire Ekiti youths.

“That as a group with membership of over 500,000, the nominee is not recognized by us and as such can’t represent Ekiti youth population in such a sensitive committee. And neither has he at any point contributed anything meaningful to the development of Ekiti youths and we challenge him to come forward with proofs to the contrary.

“That the nominee was a known arch-antagonist of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu before and during the campaign as clearly instructed by former Governor Kayode Fayemi, his boss who he served as Special Adviser on Federal Matters until recently.

“That the nominee at no time during the stretch of the presidential campaign came out to openly make pro-Tinubu statements or contributions on his behalf either in Ekiti or his Ilawe Ekiti hometown. If he has any evidence of videos or audiovisual tapes of meetings he held with Ekiti youths during the campaign to promote Asiwaju’s candidature; he should bring them forward without further delay.

“That rather, the nominee was part of the close aides of Fayemi who used the instrumentality of state government to clamp down on the earliest Tinubu supporters in Ekiti, such as the innocent SWAGA members who were humiliated and suspended from APC simply because they expressed their support for the President-elect.

“That Araoye in his four years in office as Special Adviser to Fayemi on Federal Matters while his former boss was serving as Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum couldn’t attract a single federal project to Ekiti. It is on record that this is so despite that the nominee was one of the youngest political appointees of all time in Ekiti.

“That Araoye’s nomination into such a critical committee is likened to robbing Peter to pay Paul and a slap on the collective intelligence of Ekiti youths who worked day and night to ensure the victory of the President-elect in their respective our domains.

“That for the avoidance of doubts, those saddled with the responsibilities of drafting names for appointments and sundry national assignments should know that Ekiti parades an array of credible and committed youths who can represent the state in various capacities instead of settling for those who want to reap where they did not sow and hustlers of name dropping.

“That Araoye is a political godson of both Niyi Adebayo and Kayode Fayemi who have not hidden their disdain against Tinubu at any given opportunity, and as such his consideration for further national responsibilities will amount to a serious political risk.

“That henceforth, background checks and due diligence must be carried out on future nominees from Ekiti through the genuine leaders of constituted Tinubu campaign chapter in the state for adequate knowledge of such persons and their characters.

“That we call on the national secretariat of our party and the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) to be aware of our displeasure over this matter as we prepare to officially submit our letter of complaint at a later date.”