The people and stakeholders of Ekiti South senatorial district have revealed that the state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, allegedly promised voters and leaders from the zone during his electioneering campaign in 2018 to ensure his successor in 2022 governorship poll comes from the zone.
The stakeholders under the auspices of Ekiti Concerned Citizens’ Group (ECCG) expressed regret that the governor has reneged on his promise following his alleged support for an aspirant from the Central senatorial district ahead of the 2022 governorship primary of his party.
Ahead of this week’s governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ECCG also warned aspirants of Ekiti South senatorial extraction against accepting deputy governorship slot from any party, saying whoever betrays this would be treated as “Judas Iscariot” in the zone.
The group insisted that the APC, PDP and other parties must pick their candidates from Ekiti South for the June 18, 2022 governorship election in the interest of fairness, justice and equity.
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The group through its chairman, Femi Babalola on Monday while addressing newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital considered it outrageous, the brazen marginalisation of the South, since the advent of democracy in 1999, saying time to correct the anomaly is now for the future generation of Ekiti.
Babalola said: “Governor Kayode Fayemi promised the south in 2018 when he was seeking for our votes and we are now bothered that he is changing the goal post now through his support for a central aspirant. We are really bothered, but we thank God that the people are really sympathising with us.
“If the bigwigs in the party that produced Governor Fayemi could be saying that Presidency should come to the South in 2023, why are they now depriving the south governorship in Ekiti?
“We know some parties are doing their primaries this week and let me say that the people of the South will regard any governorship aspirant from the South that takes deputy governorship slot from any candidate as “Judas Iscariot”. What we want is governorship.”
Fuming over the alleged systematic infusion of what he described as “apartheid” in Ekiti politics, the Babalola added, “From our engagements with them, all aspirants from Ekiti South have the competence, experience, comportment, skills and mastery of Ekiti to successfully steer the ship of Ekiti State as Governor.
“These aspirants are strongly recommended to their respective parties for internal mechanisms that will be favourable to Ekiti south senatorial district.
“Economic development of Ekiti state which largely determines the living standard of our people should not be left in the hands of a miserly few who want to remain permanently in power by all means through political manipulations so as to enrich themselves and create am aristocratic class to the detriment of the poverty-stricken and hungry masses in Ekiti.”
Babalola added that the group with membership drawn from different parts of the state are striving, not only to promote the essence of Ekiti’s homogeneity but to propagate the core values of fairness, equity and justice, for which the State is reputed and respected.
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