A former governor of Ekiti State, Segun Oni, has warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against gambling with the choices of its governorship candidates in the two states of Ekiti and Osun next year.
Oni said the PDP must be “decisive, deliberate and direct” in picking popular candidates with track records and name recognition to have the chances of winning the way Governor Willie Obiano did for All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra State.
Oni, a PDP governorship hopeful in Ekiti State, said this in Ado Ekiti on Monday in a statement issued by the Director General of his campaign organisation, Hon. Yemi Arokodare.
“While our party must learn from the outcome of the Anambra governorship elections, and the pattern of voting, it is evident to everyone that Governor Obiano and APGA, who had dipped in popularity in the last two years, deliberately went for a popular candidate in Chukwuma Soludo to keep hope alive.
“The choice of Soludo has paid off because the people could easily connect with his visible track records and popularity in the state, country and beyond, and Anambrarians decided to give him a chance.
“After a successful convention and the prospects of displacing a fumbling ruling party at the center in 2023, the PDP cannot afford to gamble over the choices of its governorship candidates in Ekiti and Osun States.
“Our party must apply the sense of purpose and wisdom that guided it in electing the incoming National Working Committee; it must learn from APGA in Anambra, and it must be decisive in bringing all stakeholders together in Ekiti and Osun to take a firm decision, “he said.
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Dr. Olusegun Osinkolu, has said the emerging results from the ongoing governorship election in Anambra State have clearly shown that any party relying on federal might, rather than prepare hard for election would be defeat
Osinkolu stated that days when state actors like the police, soldiers and other paramilitary agencies were being deployed to muzzle opposition during elections were over, saying sovereignty was gradually returning to the ordinary citizens.
In this regard, Osinkolu urged the Ekiti APC to mobilise aggressively ahead of the June 18, 2022 governorship election in the state, rather than basking in the euphoria of being the ruling party at the centre.
The APC chieftain said this on Monday in a statement entitled: ‘Federal Might Demystification and Need for Ekiti APC to Get Prepared Ahead of 2022’.
He praised President Muhammadu Buhari and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for allowing the votes of Anambrarians to count, describing this as a panacea to the lingering insecurity crisis pummeling the Southeast in recent time.
