…Six political parties declare support for SDP
Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Ekiti State, Asiwaju Segun Oni, has dismissed with a wave of the hand the rumour making the rounds in parts of the state that he was planning to step down from the race.
This is coming, even as six political parties in the state declared their support for him.
Oni at a press conference he addressed in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on Wednesday described the rumour that he was planning to step down as reckless and wicked.
A statement issued by the Chairman, Media Advisory Council for Segun Oni Campaign Organisation(SOCO), Moses Jolayemi, said:
“Our attention has been drawn to yet another wicked and senseless rumour sponsored by the sinking All Progressives Congress (APC) that the leading candidate in next Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti, Chief Segun Oni, is planning to step down.
“It went further to allege that Oni has met with the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter.
“This is another lame propaganda from the rumour mill of the leprous APC-led government of Governor Kayode Fayemi and his band of desperate power mongers who have long lost touch with the people of Ekiti.
Jolayemi quoted Oni as saying, “those conceiving such idea need to have their heads examined” adding that “there is no iota of truth in this, just as in every other falsehood being churned out by the APC to confuse the unsuspecting public.”
“Have you ever seen a sane man withdrawing from a contest he is divinely destined to win? He asked.
According to Oni, he has never met with the President, Tinubu or any member of the APC for any reason whatsoever in the last few years, adding that he is fully in this race and poised to win, armed with the massive support of Ekiti people, home and abroad.
The former governor, however, said he was not surprised at the myriad of lies flying out from the barn of his opponents and said that both the APC and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have reached their wits end and only looking for a way “where the road appears hermetically closed.
“We are emboldened by the determination of our people to end the era of social, economic and financial servitude in which innocent Ekiti people have been sentenced in the last 12 years.
“No amount of lies and propaganda can save both the APC and the PDP from the impending defeat and disgrace.”
Oni, therefore, urged Ekiti people to come out en-mass and vote for him on Saturday, insisting that “this is the only weapon the people have to chase away those who have over the years mismanaged the resources of the state and brought untold hardship on the people.”
Also earlier today, a coalition of political parties in the state gathered at the situation office of the SDP to pledge their total and unalloyed support for Oni in the forthcoming governorship election, describing the former governor as the only candidate capable of leading the state out of the present economic and social quagmire in which Ekiti has found itself, no thanks to the duo of APC and PDP.
Jolayemi said Oni, during his first outing as governor of the state, brought the rising debt profile of Ekiti to net zero.
“It is on record that Fayemi increased the debt profile of Ekiti State from net zero to N30.5 billion in his first term.
“According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), Abuja, the debt profile of Ekiti as of December 2021 is N106 billion.
“Despite the lean resources available to the state, Oni paid all arrears of pensions and gratuities of Ekiti retirees, from 1994 before the creation of the state without a single borrowing either domestic or external.”
This, Jolayemi said, was in addition to the gale of developmental projects Oni executed, most of which remain visible to all and sundry and this is why they are clamouring and canvassing for his return.
Ekiti people, he declared, have made up their minds where they want to go and no amount of evil machinations of the enemies can stop them.
Meanwhile, Oni has appealed to the people of the state to come out enmass on Saturday to elect him as their governor.
According to a statement issued by the spokesman of Ekiti Build Back Better (EBBB), a pro-Segun Oni group, Idowu Adelusi, and made available to journalists in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday, the SDP governorship candidate made the appeal when six political parties, led by their leaders, came to declare support for his candidature at the Segun Oni Campaign Office in the state capital.
The parties and their leaders are: Action Alliance (AA), Mr. Lanre Anifowoshe; African Action Congress (AAC), Mr. Adekolu; Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Prince Adeuyi; All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Rufus Afolabi; Youth Democratic Party of Nigeria (YDPN), also known as End SARS, Mr. Segun Balogun and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Mr. Adebayo Ademola Emmanuel.
Their governorship candidates also stepped down for the SDP candidate.
Oni seized the occasion to allay the fear of the electorate, saying the Federal Government had assured of adequate security for the voters by deploying security personnel to the state to guarantee free environment for people to go out and cast their votes without fear of harassment and intimidation by political thugs.
Oni added: “I want Ekiti people to come out enmass on Saturday, June 18, to vote for me and elect me as their governor.
“There will be adequate security for you; the security personnel will not allow intimidation and harassment of the people to freely exercise their voting rights.
“The desire to remove the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government and free Ekiti from abject poverty, backwardness and free government workers from perpetual slavery is a joint project of all us.
“We all have roles to play; don’t stay back; be counted to be among the group of ‘Ekiti Koya, OO To Ge.’
“You need to use your vote, which is your power, to determine your future. Don’t sell your vote. If you sell your vote to the APC, you have called for another four years of suffering and slavery.
“If you have not collected your permanent voter’s card, go to the INEC office without delay.”
Leaders of the six political parties, while pledging their support for Oni, said, “we are here to pledge our support for Segun Oni and we are using this forum to tell members and supporters of the six political parties to thumbprint the symbol of SDP which is a white horse in the Saturday, June 18, election.”
They said their decision was in the best interest of Ekiti people and urged their members to embark on a house-to-house campaign for Segun Oni.
While welcoming the leaders of the parties, Oni thanked them and their governorship candidates.
He told them that rescuing Ekiti from “the jaws of the oppressors of Ekiti” was a joint project of all Ekiti people and assured the leaders that they would be counted among the group of ‘Ekiti Koya, Oo To Ge.’
