Ahead of the June 18 Ekiti gubernatorial poll, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has predicted that he would certainly emerge as next governor of the state based on the sacrifices he had made for the growth of democracy.
Bamidele, who is a governorship aspirant on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) said he was well prepared for any mode of primaries that would be adopted by the party but canvassed for direct primary, being ideologically believed in participatory democracy and hold the view that sovereignty lies in the people.
Bamidele gave the assurance in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday, when the former Federal Lawmaker representing Ekiti North constituency I, Hon. Daramola,collapsed his structures to back him for the January 27 APC primary in the state.
“My ambition is a movement of Ekiti sons and daughters, who believed that it shouldn’t be the same old story in 2018. I am not contesting or joining others to rock the boat in APC, this is a family affair, Internal party democracy and primary election.
“At a time, my blood was spilled on the soil of Ekiti for the sake of APC and it is this blood that I used to assure all of you that Governor Fayemi will do everything possible to show that we have a smooth sail at the primary and by the grace of God, I will emerge the APC candidate. I have no doubt that after Governor Fayemi, I am going to be the next governor of this state”.
He assured that he is not aligning with like-minds in the All Progressives Congress(APC) to rock the boat and deprive the party of winning the June 18 gubernatorial poll in the state.
However,a former House of Representatives member, Hon. Bimbo Daramola,described Bamidele’s governorship ambition in APC as a legitimate demand from the party, saying his contributions surpassed every other aspirants seeking the party’s ticket.
Stressing that many strong politicians would still join his structures the way Daramola did, the Chairman, Southern Senator Forum, stated that many Ekiti eminent sons and daughters are desirous of joining his campaign train to bail the state out of the doldrums.
“Governor Kayode Fayemi has done well, but there is need for a well focused and experienced person, who has a scientific understanding of how to move Ekiti forward to take over from him. Someone who loves democracy and Ekiti development. We are not going to fight because the philosophy is the same, our vision are similar and our focus is one.
“We will run a campaign that is issue- based and violence -free. We know that the state government wouldn’t do anything that can cause crisis in the party. We are also assured that our brother and Governor, Kayode Fayemi won’t impose any candidate, we are convinced about that.
“Bimbo and I respect Governor Fayemi, both of us were once the Directors -General of his campaign organisations in 2014 and 2018 respectively. We are telling you with assurance that the governor would not impose anyone in the primary, so that we can all work together.
Explaining why he coalesced structure with Bamidele, the former House of Representatives member, Hon. Daramola, described the Senator as the right man for the top job, taking cognisance of his contributions to APC.
“Senator Opeyemi Bamidele is a man of history in Ekiti progressive fold from the days of Action Congress(AC) to Action Congress of Democrats(ACD) through Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN) and now All Progressives Congress (APC) that nobody could erase. He knows how to take care of the party, because he recognizes those who have laboured to build the party from the scratch,” he said.
