Ekiti Governorship Primaries: Olujimi, Bamidele Consider Dumping PDP, APC Respectively

Senator Abiodun Olujimi and Opeyemi Bamidele have both faulted the outcome of the APC and PDP governorship primaries in Ekiti State.

More reactions have continued to trail the conduct of the governorship primary elections of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the June 18 gubernatorial poll in Ekiti State.

In the PDP, one of the aspirants and the lawmaker representing Ekiti South in the National Assembly, Senator Biodun Olujimi, hinted at the possibility of dumping the party, alongside her supporters.

While noting that tempers are high, she explained that the possibility of exiting the PDP cannot be done in a hurry.

According to her, the party did not create room for every aspirant to discuss together, adding that a former governor of the state took people for granted.

“We have been in this business for quite some time. If it is the former governor that is sitting as a serving Senator, can you do what has happened to him, no?

“My gender has been affected. Beyond that, the fact that people take everybody for granted has also affected all of us. You can’t take people for granted.

“This is a business we came into voluntarily and when you are in it, people are supposed to build consensus, not to talk down on others.”

In the ruling APC, one of the aspirants and a former lawmaker, Bamidele Opeyemi, told journalists in Ado Ekiti that no primary election took place in Ekiti State.

He described the primary election – conducted on January 27 and produced a former Secretary to the State Government, Biodun Oyebanji as the party’s candidate – as a sham.

Opeyemi called on the APC leadership to withdraw the name submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

“As far as we are concerned, seven of us out of eight aspirants in Ekiti, no primary election took place. There was a lot of shenanigans last (two) weeks Thursday in the name of primary election but indeed no primary election took place,” he said.

“Whatever name they submitted to INEC as the name of the governorship candidate of APC in Ekiti State is a dummy name. The Electoral Act, as well as INEC practice and procedure, make provisions for a two-week period within which a political party can substitute the name of its candidate.

“What we are calling for now is that the leadership of the party will do the right thing and ensure that the dummy name that was submitted to INEC will be substituted with the name of a popular candidate that can win the general election for us, otherwise you cannot stop people from going to court.”