The lawmaker representing Ekiti Central Senatorial district in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, Opeyemi Bamidele has said Governor Kayode Fayemi is not supporting any of the governorship aspirants in the All Progressives Congress (APC) for now.
Popularly called MOB by his supporters, Bamidele while addressing newsmen in Lagos on Saturday said Governor Fayemi who believes in internal party democracy will only support whoever wins the governorship primary slated to hold in January 2022 in a free, fair and credible process.
Bamidele who has picked his Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to contest the Ekiti State governorship election slated for June 18, 2022 however said he has discussed his intention to contest with the governor, adding that Fayemi knows that he will do well if he becomes the governor of Ekiti state.
He said “Have I discussed my governorship ambition with Governor Fayemi? Yes, I have done that. Is he aware I am contesting? Yes, he has always known that I will contest. What is his disposition towards it? I want to be very fair to Governor Fayemi. We had our disagreement in the past but by the grace of God, we reconciled and I ended up as Director-General of his campaign in 2018”.
“We have had a very cordial relationship. Governor Fayemi knows by the grace of God, I will do well when I become governor of Ekiti state. I don’t expect him to tell other aspirants to back off from the race that he is only supporting MOB. That will be unfair on my part. He still has almost one year to spend in office as Ekiti state governor and he needs the cooperation of everybody to finish strong. He doesn’t need any distraction or make himself lameduck on the basis of the political aspiration of anyone”.
“The Governor Fayemi that I know believes in internal party democracy. The implication of that is he cannot at this point stand up and be counted with any aspirant. I want to say that in being fair to him and to our people and the rudiments of democracy, I will not join in any name dropping”.
“I may as well sit down here and say Governor Fayemi is the one behind my aspiration to become governor of Ekiti state. I won’t do that because I know he is not meant to do that and he is not going to do that with anybody”.
“Definitely, those who are spending all their time and resources in trying to make Nigerians believe that Governor Fayemi is the one sponsoring their aspiration are doing that because they need something extra to be able to market themselves and to be able to if possible, browbeat other aspirants and groups into supporting them”.
“But I can assure you that Governor Fayemi knows better. He won’t adopt any particular aspirant at this point. He wants the unity of the party. He wants a strong party that is united to face the other political parties in the general election.
We are the party to beat in Ekiti state and Governor Fayemi knows he will not do anything that will make us defeat ourselves even before the election”.
Bamidele who said Ekiti people are waiting to vote for him in the next election said the APC needs a candidate that is acceptable to the people in the three senatorial districts and 16 local government areas of the state in order to win the election.
“I also know that Governor Fayemi will be interested in a candidate that can win the general election for the party. Ekiti people are waiting to vote for me as their next governor. I have no doubt as to the love Ekiti people have for me”.
“I was in the theatre in Ekiti after I was shot. Doctors needed three people to donate blood on the 1st of June 2018 when I was in surgery. As soon as they came out to announce, it is on record that over 300 people including youths, men and women pulled their shirts and blouses to donate blood”.
“Today, they will tell you in Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital that in the history of that teaching hospital, there had never been anytime they had more than the blood they needed in their blood bank. So, it wasn’t just about me. They got more than what they asked for”.
