WOLE BALOGUN, Ado Ekiti
The Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, has advised members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) not to betray the party so that their candidates will be victorious in the next elections.
Speaking while inaugurating the APC Ekiti Central senatorial campaign council for the elections, Egbeyemi, said the only thing he foresaw that could hamper the chances of the party was betrayal.
The council is to campaign in 57 wards in the district for the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and senatorial candidate, Opeyemi Bamidele, the House of Representatives candidates in constituencies 1 and II, Sola Fatoba and Wunmi Ogunlola respectively and the House of Assembly candidates in the elections.
Egbeyemi said : “The task is not too much for us to achieve. We are here today because Bamidele didn’t die during the gunshot of June 1, 2018. God specifically preserved him for the senatorial ticket, because he will win.
“There are those who cannot be trusted in our party, particularly when it comes to mobilising for elections; we shouldn’t do this for the sake of our party.
“If you are given any logistics, make judicious use of it in the interest of our party. Let us be dedicated. All we want is free and fair election; we won’t tolerate crisis.
“We must learn from the mistake of the last governorship election. If you are given campaign tools and you diverted it, God shall punish such person. We must be faithful to our party and the people.
“When I saw the list of members of the council, I had a conclusion that these were people that own the district; so the job has been made easier if only we can go home and work hard.
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“I want you to visit those areas where our people didn’t do well in the last election and correct those mistakes.
“We are not going to buy votes; we are not used to it. Even those who did it in the last election got instant punishment. All we need to tell our people is that our candidates will do well the way Governor Kayode Fayemi has been doing,” he stated.
The senatorial candidate of the party in Ekiti Central, Bamidele, said the candidates in the district would run a joint campaign since it was about the survival of the party and not about individual.
The APC state Chairman, Paul Omotoso, urged members to shun division and educate voters to reduce the number of void votes that affected the party in the last governorship election.
Omotoso urged them to begin voter education, bemoaning that the party lost over 18,000 votes to poor voting in the last governorship election held in the state thereby reducing the margin of defeat to 19,000.
“No one can be willing to join PDP today because it is crisis-ridden. So, as we are trying to poach good people in the opposition, don’t allow crisis that can dissuade those who want to join us. We must work like a team for these coming polls.
“We are not going to tolerate a situation whereby you will be our member and you will vote for PDP on the day of election.
“We are monitoring you; if we get you to be a mole in APC, then you are finished politically, because APC won’t allow the PDP to win again in Ekiti; we will never make such a mistake; so you need to beware and be loyal,” he warned.
Omotoso added that the PDP was no longer a credible alternative in Ekiti and Nigeria at large, saying that any APC member who betrayed the party would pay for it dearly.
Going by its composition, the deputy governor is the grand patron of the council, while Chief J.F. Alake is the Chairman; the council is to be co-chaired by Chief Remi Oguntuase.
The list also include: Prof Adio Afolayan, as the Campaign Coordinator; Chief Ropo Ige, Deputy Coordinator, representatives of the civil servants, among other eminent APC members from the zone .