Ekiti Guber Race: Bamidele, Olujimi may dump APC, PDP respectively

One of the governorship aspirants under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the lawmaker representing Ekiti Central Senatorial district, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele has insisted that no primary election took place in the state.

He described  the primary election – conducted on January 27 and produced a former Secretary to the State Government, Biodun Oyebanji as the party’s candidate  – as a sham.

Opeyemi called on the APC leadership to withdraw the name submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

“As far as we are concerned, seven of us out of eight aspirants in Ekiti, no primary election took place. There was a lot of shenanigans last (two) weeks Thursday in the name of primary election but indeed no primary election took place,” he said.

“Whatever name they submitted to INEC as the name of the governorship candidate of APC in Ekiti State is a dummy name. The Electoral Act, as well as INEC practice and procedure, make provisions for a two-week period within which a political party can substitute the name of its candidate.

“What we are calling for now is that the leadership of the party will do the right thing and ensure that the dummy name that was submitted to INEC will be substituted with the name of a popular candidate that can win the general election for us, otherwise you cannot stop people from going to court.”

In a related development, one of the PDP aspirants, who is currently representing Ekiti South in the National Assembly, Senator Biodun Olujimi, hinted at the possibility of dumping the party, alongside her supporters.

Olujimi, who noted that tempers are high, also explained that the possibility of exiting the PDP cannot be done in a hurry.

She added that the party did not create room for every aspirant to discuss together, adding that a former governor of the state took people for granted.

“We have been in this business for quite some time. If it is the former governor that is sitting as a serving Senator, can you do what has happened to him, no?

“My gender has been affected. Beyond that, the fact that people take everybody for granted has also affected all of us. You can’t take people for granted.

“This is a business we came into voluntarily and when you are in it, people are supposed to build consensus, not to talk down on others.”