An aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the botched House of Representative’s primary for Ekiti central federal constituency 2, Dele Philips has called on his supporters to remain calm and be peaceful, saying they are awaiting the decision of the party leadership on the inconclusive exercise.
Philips who called for restraints among his supporters said that APC leaders in the state had intervened with a promise to look into the issues arising from the last Saturday’s primary.
It would be recalled that the primary election for the constituency comprising the Ekiti-West, Ijero and Efon local government areas of the state, was inconclusive following violent disruption of the exercise midway allegedly by agents of one of the aspirants.
The primary was contested by four aspirants. They were; Dele Philips; the incumbent, Wumi Ogunlola; former Chief of staff to governor Kayode Fayemi, Biodun Omoleye, and young entrepreneur, Ade Ilesanmi.
Speaking in Aramoko-Ekiti on Thursday, Philips insisted that there was no election, saying that declaring the winner of a primary that was inconclusive would amount to the murdering of democracy and sheer travesty.
He urged party members and delegates to be peaceful as they patiently await the decision of the party’s leadership in the state on the outcome of the inconclusive poll, expressing optimism of a favourable outcome.
The House of Representatives aspirant said that he would abide by the decision of the party leaders, stating that the party is bigger than any individual’s political aspiration no matter how highly placed.
“We are here today to call on my supporters and APC members to remain calm. APC is a peaceful party and peace is imminent. Now, the youths, elders and people of this constituency should come together as one and vote for Oyebanji in the June 18 governorship poll.
“We have our matter being looked into. There are no winners and losers yet. The party’s leadership is speaking to us and we are listening. We expect to come back to our people very soon to tell them that we have a solution to what we think is a crisis. It’s not a crisis. We are all together. Unity is what we must achieve together.”
Dismissing the insinuation that he was planning to dump APC for another party, Philips said that under no circumstance will he abandon the broom party which he described as a distinguished beacon of all progressive parties.
He pledged to continue to aggressively mobilise support for the ruling APC and its governorship candidate, Biodun Oyebanji in ensuring the party secure a landslide victory in the June 18 governorship poll.
“We have given points on the disrupted primary and people should understand that no Dele, no BAO doesn’t exist, BAO exists, Dele exists. We are one. Together we will campaign and together we will win.
“I can tell you that there would be no protest, crisis and violence. We would vote for BAO and wait for what comes to us as a result of the disrupted election.
“We are a party to beat and we are not moving to any other party as being speculated. We will remain here in APC and conquer together,” he said.
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APC primary: Ekiti Reps aspirant sues for peace, mobilizes support for Oyebanji
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