Ekiti 2022: Bamidele Receives N22.5m Cheque To Purchase Governorship Forms

A member of the National Assembly and All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has said he stood a better chance of winning the 2022 governorship election in Ekiti State.

In the same vein, another member of the House of Representatives and governorship hopeful from the state, Hon. Femi Bamisile, has said he was not rattled by the alleged endorsement of the immediate past Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Abiodun Oyebanji, for the 2022 governorship race by Governor Kayode Fayemi.

Bamidele, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Legal matters, stressed that direct or indirect primary would not stop him from becoming the governorship candidate of the APC in the state.

Bamidele, who spoke yesterday at his Senate office in Abuja while playing host to the Ekiti Concerned Professionals, who presented expression of interest nomination cheque to him, said he was coming on board with something usual.

“As to my own aspirations in Ekiti, I have no doubt that whether it is direct primary or it is indirect primary, you know, I stand a good chance by the grace of God, to win the primary. I know that I am loved by the people of Ekiti State and I know that my own aspiration goes beyond pasting posters on the walls in Ekiti, because I am a poster that is already posted on the minds of the people of Ekiti state.

“And I’m looking forward to a very decent governorship race, a race that is popular, a race that is decent, a race that is driven by ideas and on issues and a race that is violence free.

“We have in place, a governor, who is well educated, who is respected by all, who understands the language of democracy and development, who I also know will ensure that there is an atmosphere for everybody to aspire and I believe that Ekiti has become a cynosure of all eyes in this country and a lot of people are interested in what is about to happen in Ekiti.”

Bamidele explained that the Electoral Act (Amendment Bil), which contained direct primary was not about the National Assembly or President Muhammadu Buhari, but about Nigerians, who were yearning for free and fair election.

His words: “At the end of the end of the day, it is not about the National Assembly or any individual or institution. It is about the people of Nigeria. Our democracy, the survival of same and growth of same. It’s about moving Nigeria forward, those who felt strongly about the idea of putting a clause in our proposed electoral bill to guarantee direct primaries as a method of choosing candidates of political parties meant well for the country.

“Some of those who are trying to oppose it, some of them also have logical arguments. Regardless of who posited what, who was opposed to what, the National Assembly has passed a Bill in that regard, and the bill is awaiting presidential assent.

“I want to believe that the President also means very well for Nigeria, he will take a decision he believes is in the best interest of Nigerians and he believes is in the best interest of our democracy and whatever decision he decides, he chooses to take, I’m sure he will also back it up with reasons which Nigerians will also look into.”

On his part, Bamisile said he remained one of the most experienced grassroots politicians in the state and that such endorsement, which he branded as “unpopular” couldn’t be a source of threat or worry to him.

Bamisile, who is the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), said this in Ado Ekiti on Monday while donating fertilisers worth N200 million to farmers across the 177 wards in Ekiti.

Using the occasion to speak about the Ekiti South Senatorial district agitation for governorship, he said it would be a dangerous mistake for the APC to ignore the calls by members from the South.

He said he would plunge into the race and ensure that he won the APC governorship ticket during the APC primary of January 22, to give the people of Ekiti South their deserved placein Ekiti politics.

“I am not disturbed by any unpopular endorsement. I am a veteran in politics and one more of the most experienced grassroots politicians in Ekiti politics. I know what politics entails.

“In the last governorship election in 2018, Governor Fayemi won with less than 19,000 votes, which was the least margin in the history of governorship in the state. So, someone like me can’t be troubled by any imposition or endorsement.

“If the Nigerian populace is saying that after eight years of presidency in the North, that power should return to the South, I see no reason why after 24 years of democracy in Ekiti, a particular zone is still being sidelined. This really baffles me.

“The national leader of our party has told us that the primary will be conducted. The party does not state that we have lost just, because someone was endorsed. Let us wait and see, man had spoken, let us wait for God to do His own,” he said.