As the July 14, 2018 governorship election in Ekiti draws closer, a cross section of political stakeholders in the State have warned against the dangers of imposing a surrogate on the people of the State, saying that such a situation was undemocratic and anti-theOf Surritical to development.
They are particularly miffed that the outgoing governor of the State, Ayo Fayose was running a desperate and vicious campaign of calumny to instal his deputy, Prof Olushola Eleka. They vowed that the good people of Ekiti would resist the move and ensure that only a credible and competent candidate that is not tied to the apron strings of any godfather would be elected the governor of the State.
Among those that spoke on the matter were the former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Barr Owoseni Ajayi; Amb Ayodele Ayodeji, former Nigeria's envoy to Greece; and Mr. Wale Aladeoba, the Organizing Secretary of SDP in Ekiti State.
According to Barr Ajayi, all key stakeholders of the ruling PDP in the State have all left for APC and other parties because of the decision of Fayose to impose Eleka on the Party.
His words: "The inability of the governor to manage people has made all stakeholders to leave the Party for him. It was tactless of him to have imposed a candidate. You hardly see party leaders in his campaign. No forum to assess the ability and capacity of his candidate as he is the one that dominates every discussion". He predicted victory for the APC candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who he said was running a broad-based campaign.
Similarly, Amb Ayodeji who is APGA candidate in the election said that Eleka was imposed so that he could conceal the ills of his godfather, Fayose. He lamented that the people of Ekiti have been short-changed under Fayose and would not want the continuation of the pervasive poverty in the State under his surrogate. His words: "People of Ekiti have been short-changed. So much poverty in the land. Eleka is Fayose's third term. Ekiti cannot take it".
Aladeoba in his reaction said that Fayose deliberately imposed Eleka so that he can continue to call the shots from behind the scene.
For him, Eleka is ill-equipped for the position.
His words: "What we have in Ekiti now is third term in disguise. Eleka is a non-politically oriented person that can be manipulated and controlled by Fayose". He therefore called for His rejection at the polls.
He predicted that the election would be between a coalition of other parties led by SDP candidate, Akinloye Aiyegbusi and the candidate of APC, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.
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Politics