National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has appealed to the people of Ekiti to vote for the party in Saturday’s governorship election.
According to him, the APC is the solution to four years of frustration, disappointment and poverty that has enveloped the state since the emergence of Gov. Ayodele Fayose in 2014.
Tinubu in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Ado-Ekiti on Monday, said that APC was the only party that could improve Nigeria in all sectors.
President Muhammadu Buhari is expected in Ekiti on Tuesday to meet with traditional rulers, APC leaders and supporters as well as close the rally of the APC candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi, ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in the state.
Tinubu said: “we thank the people of Ekiti for being kind and hospitable to us all along.
“We, the leaders of APC are here to greet Ekiti people and commend them for being tolerant to the maladministration of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) before the emergence of the APC at the Federal level and Ekiti, in particular.
“We have had 16 years of maladministration, bad governance, misrule and series of complaints on our economy, education, non-development and several other segments of our country.
“It is all from the poor foundation laid by the PDP government for 16 years, and thank God for our timely intervention at the federal level, the nation would have collapsed.
“The only remnant of them is Ekiti. I, therefore, want to appeal to you that Dr Kayode Fayemi, the candidate of our party in the Saturday election is our brother and colleague and has learnt a great lesson about governance.
” That is why we, the leaders in the party are standing as guarantors of the commitments that definitely Ekiti will experience rapid development if you vote for our party and we appeal to you to vote Dr Kayode Fayemi as the next governor of Ekiti.”
The former Lagos governor reminded the youths “ the future is now, the future is yours and the government is ours.
“The APC is ready to lay the foundation for a better future for you. Don’t because of two slices of bread today mortgage your future.
“Don’t because of intimidation of a lone ranger fail to exercise your franchise. The broom is a bunch of unity, the symbol we offer to you today is the broom.
“We want you to vote en masse, there will not be violence or intimidation. All I am appealing is that you should give APC a chance to show its worth to the people of Ekiti,” he said.
In another interview with NAN, former interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, said Saturday’s election was a must for the party to win.
He said Ekiti could not afford to be in the opposition in the Southwest.
“The Saturday election will go in peace. It is, therefore, time for all Yorubas to come together. Ekiti cannot afford to be in the opposition. It is certain that APC will win on Saturday,” he declared.
The governorship election in Ekiti is scheduled to hold across the 16 local government areas of the state on Saturday, while the new administration will be inaugurated on Oct. 16.
Aside Tinubu and Akande that have arrived the state ahead of the visit of Buhari, other leaders already in the state include, former governors Segun Osoba of Ogun, Segun Oni of Ekiti, and the Deputy Chairman, South of the party, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, who was also the first democratically elected governor of Ekiti in 1999.
Others are governors of Ondo, Rotimi Akeredolu, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun and the Kebbi state governor, Alhaji Isa Bagudu, who is also the Chairman of the Campaign Committee of the Ekiti gubernatorial election for the APC, among other leaders.
