February 15, (THEWILL) – The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ekiti State has said that it will proudly and confidently campaign for its candidate in the coming gubernatorial election, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, BAO, with the value restoration achievements of the incumbent Governor, John Kayode Fayemi.
The party in a release signed by its Publicity Secretary, Segun Dipe, the APC expressed confidence that the achievements of Dr Fayemi in both his first and second term in office were resounding enough to make the good people of the state pass a vote of confidence on the party in the coming general election.
Dipe however urged the rival People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the state to follow suit by campaigning for its candidate, Otunba Bisi Kolawole, with the party’s regrettable past of value deterioration and arm-twisting tendencies.
“Our party, APC, has taken up the challenge of making the campaign for the coming election an issue-based one. The PDP should also accept the challenge by telling the people of the state why they duped them of values and virtues before running away, only for the Fayemi administration to start restoring them and returning the State to that of an omoluabi era.”
“Ekiti people have tasted hemlock and they have tasted honey. They now know which kills and which keeps alive. Fayemi’s achievements of touching every community with one or more legacy projects, of paying salaries of workers as and when due, of recognising the pensioners and improving tremendously what is allocated to paying their pensions from N10m to N100m, of reactivating all deteriorating structures, of making Ekiti State investor-friendly and attracting investors both locally and internationally to the state, of refurbishing decrepit institutions, of making the roads motorable, of prioritising agriculture, of recognising the elderly ones and naming legacy projects after them, of giving confidence to womenfolk, to mention just a few, are more than enough to campaign with.
“The PDP is scared stiff that they would have nothing positive to tell the people. They are afraid of the questions people would ask them and what answers they would give for duping them. Other than trying to demarket the APC, what else would they have to campaign with? That they will not misbehave any more? That they will not return the state to the era of one week one trouble? That their next governorship candidate will not commit an impeachable offence or end up in the EFCC den?
“In the PDP era, Ekiti was in the news for all the bad reasons. Today, in the APC era, Ekiti is in the news for all the good reasons. The rating of the state as the place of peace and good conduct has soared tremendously in the last four years. Every Ekiti son and daughter is now proud to claim the state, unlike in the PDP era, when it was shameful claiming to be from the state.”
“If indeed the PDP is serious with the cheeky statement, then it should accept to make its campaign issue-based and not that of cheap propaganda. APC is not afraid of accepting the challenge and will leave the discerning people of Ekiti State to be the judge”, he said.
The APC candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, had boasted that Fayemi’s achievements would be used to win the governorship election. This has caused panic in the PDP camp and they’re looking for ways to demarket both Oyebanji as the prime candidate and APC as the ruling party.
Dipe, however, advised the PDP to first apologise to the people of Ekiti for its past demeanours, before embarking on any campaign as the wounds the party inflicted on the people have yet to heal.
“Everyone still regards PDP as a fraudulent party in Ekiti. The name conjures up an image of a catastrophic era of one week one trouble. The people are not fully healed and have not forgotten that dark era when the Governor would hurriedly put together a fraudulent budget, take it to the state parliament in pants and singlets and bang the gavel without following the due process, to signify a self approval with the members of the House of Assembly watching helplessly and knowing that though the budget document was an illegal one, yet would keep mum on the impunity.
“Neither will they forget when their governor would embark on false trips to China in the name of searching for foreign investors, only to stand at the train station to address passengers waiting to board the train, yet claiming to have discussed with some foreign investors with no investment in sight.
“Nor will they ignore the fact that the Chief promoter of their candidate is still having a case of misappropriation of resources and outright stealing of our collective patrimony hanging on his neck like a sword of Damocles.
“If PDP must talk, they should rather explain to the innocent workers why they made away with their monthly salaries, explain to parents why they were being asked to pay taxes on their underaged children, and let the people know if they would continue with such impunity or not.
“We can only sympathise with the rival PDP. This surely is not the best time for them to enter the race with the APC that is still enjoying good ratings with the people. If however they must test their popularity with the coming election, then let them do it with decency and decorum, without displaying the usual impeachable conduct,” Segun Dipe admonished”, Dipe said.
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
