TheCable

Biodun Oyebanji, governorship candidate of the APC, says Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti, has no hand in his emergence as the standard-bearer of the party in the state. 

On Thursday, Oyebanji, former secretary to the state government (SSG), polled 101,703 votes to emerge as APC’s governorship candidate.

He recorded a landslide victory as none of the other aspirants could amass even a thousand votes.

Prior to the election, seven aspirants had withdrawn from the race, alleging that the primary election committee was made up of loyalists of Fayemi.

“The seven candidates herein are loyal, faithful and committed party members who are sincerely concerned about the chances of the party in the forthcoming 2022 governorship election where an imposition is allowed to override a democratic primary election for determining its flag bearer,” the aggrieved aspirants had said.

However, speaking with Arise TV on Friday, Oyebanji said all aspirants were given “a level-playing field,” and the election was held “in accordance with guidelines of the party”.

He said all the aspirants are “close” to Fayemi, and that he does not have “an exclusive preserve of relationship” with the governor.

“A level-playing field was provided for all the contestants. We had a stakeholder meeting a day before the election, and we agreed on the mode of engagement — all aspirants agreed. And left from the meeting to my village to vote. And the report I got yesterday, from all the 177 wards, is that people came out and they were accredited in accordance with guidelines of the party, and they were counted and the result as been declared,” he said.

“In response to the protest by the seven other aspirants, I recognised their rights to protest and know that the party has built an internal mechanism to resolve the issue. I’m confident that all those issues will be resolved.

“Fayemi is the party leader in the state, and there’s no party member that doesn’t have a relationship with him. I’ve known him for 20 years. And I’ve worked with him for seven years. In those seven years, he’s given various assignments in various ministries and capacities, and I discharged my duty. But that does not give me an exclusive preserve of relationship with him. All of us in the race have one relationship with governor Fayemi, and we’re all close to him.”