Governor Kayode Fayemi has explained that was absent at the All Progressives Party (APC) southwest leaders meeting in Lagos on Sunday because he did not receive an invitation.
The meeting hosted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was attended by House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, APC national leader Bola Tinubu and former APC interim national chairman Bisi Akande.
Others are Governors Dapo Abiodun and Gboyega Oyetola of Ogun and Osun states respectively, minister of industry, trade and investment Niyi Adebayo, former Governor Olusegun Osoba of Ogun State, Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd) and Pius Akinyelure.
Dr. Fayemi, who says he supports the decisions reached at the meeting wholeheartedly, said his absence was a result of a mix up in the invitation sent out.
A statement made available to newsmen by the governor’s spokesman Yinka Oyebode on Monday said the invitation for the meeting, which was said to have been sent via WhatsApp by Tinubu’s aide Tunde Rahman, never got to Fayemi.
“The absence of an invitation for the Southwest APC leaders meeting prevented the Governor from attending the meeting, as he was not aware,” Mr Oyebode’s said in the statement.
He added that Fayemi sent an apology to the meeting through Adebayo, who is also a former Ekiti governor, that he was already scheduled to attend another engagement at the time he came to learn of the meeting.
“Governor Fayemi, as a true democrat and Southwest leader who is committed to the welfare of the people, is however in total support of the decisions reached by the Southwest leaders at the meeting which include an endorsement of the positions earlier adopted by the Southern Governors’ Forum on the ban on open grazing and the need for true federalism, among others,” the statement concluded.
