Ekiti guber: Badaru asks aggrieved aspirants to work for APC’s victory

The Governor of Jigawa State and Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election Committee for Ekiti State, Mohammed Badaru has called on aggrieved aspirants in the race to put behind their grievances and work for the victory of the party at June 18 polls.

Biodun Oyebanji, a former Secretary to the Ekiti State Government (SSG) won the APC Governorship ticket for the State at the primary election held on Thursday, having polled 101,703 votes to defeat his closest challengers; Ojo Kayode with 767 and Opeyemi Bamidele who had 760.

Seven other aspirants in the race; Kayode Mojo, Demola Popoola, Femi Bamisile, Bamidele Faparusi, Dayo Adeyeye, Opeyemi Bamidele, and Afolabi Oluwasola withdrew from the primary election when it was ongoing on
alleged and demanded suspension of the exercise.

But addressing journalists shortly after submitting a report of the election at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja on Friday, Badaru said as party members, those aspirants should close ranks and support the party’s governorship candidate, Oyebanji.

“They are party members. What we expect them to do is to join hands with us so that we can continue to build the party and continue to support the candidate that emerges. At the opening of my engagement with the aspirants, at the stakeholders meeting that we held in Ekiti State, I told them that power comes from God and it is only God that will determine who will win.

“If we take it in our hearts to be patient, God will certainly reward us and believe that He knows who will be the next Governor of Ekiti State even before we started this process. So, we should take heart to be responsible and respectful and stop casting aspersions or unnecessary allegations on people because destroying somebody doesn’t mean victory for you.

“If you chose to castigate and humiliate people and cast insults on people God is watching. You will certainly harvest what you have done because the truth will always come out. And we did this primary with utmost fear of God and those that know me to know I cannot write the result for anybody,” he stated.

On the alleged irregularities during the primary, Badaru said: “That is absolutely not true. We landed on the 26th. I had meetings with all the aspirants and 7 attended out of 8 we discussed the guidelines and we agreed on all the terms.

“What they are alleging probably, party members loyal to the governor were chosen to serve as returning officers in various wards and local government areas and they raise that at the meeting. I asked them, the guidelines is to use the party people to do the job. We can not hire or take people that are not from the party but they can also give us 20 each from the party people that they believed will do justice to them. They provided those 20 lists which we incorporate into returning officers.”