Immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has decried the removal of his cap by thugs at the Peoples Democratic Party rally in Ondo State on Wednesday.
Fayose warned that what happened to the late Bola Ige must not happen to him after the incident.
It was reported that Ige’s cap was removed at the Palace of the Ooni of Ife shortly before his killers struck and shot him dead at his Bodija residence in Ibadan on December 23, 2001.
In a video that surfaced online, Fayose was making his way to the podium at the campaign ground when some hoodlums moved towards him and removed his cap.
Fayose said he would “make a formal report of the incidence to the security agencies and the party relevant authorities”, noting that “it was not something to be handled with levity as security agencies will have to unravel all the thugs brought to the event and their sponsors”.
In a statement by his Media Aide, Lere Olayinka, the former governor accused a governor and a former Deputy National Chairman of PDP of masterminding the assault on him at the party’s campaign rally for the Ondo State governorship election in Ondo town.
Fayose said despite “the shameful act”, he “won’t stop saying the truth concerning the running of the party in the South-West zone and those who have failed to produce any result in Lagos State since 1999 will be made to retire.”
While warning that nothing must happen to him, Fayose said, “That’s how late Chief Bola Ige’s cap was removed in Ile-Ife, Osun State then and we all know what happened later.
“So this one will not be ignored and treated as one of those things.
“The masterminds had it all planned and they followed it up by celebrating what they saw as the success of their plot. They even capped it up by circulating the video.
“So it was not an accident, it was planned. But those who planned it only succeeded in advertising their political myopism because the popularity of the brand Ayo Fayose, Osokomole cannot be rubbished by such a childish act.
“That they must have seen in the reaction of the people at the rally and I am sure they know that they can’t get such loud ovation even if they spend all the money in this world.
“As for me, I am unperturbed and I must say it clearly that those newcomers to the PDP and their old allies, who won’t mind soiling the image of the party to achieve their aims will not be allowed to succeed.”