2018: I’ll beat Fayose, PDP silly, Oni boasts

Segun Oni

Kamarudeen Ogundele, Ado Ekiti

A former Ekiti State Governor and current National Deputy Chairman, (South) of the ruling All Progressive Party, Chief Segun Oni, has promised to return Ekiti to an APC-controlled state if given the party’s ticket for the 2018 Governorship Election.

He boasted that he would defeat the incumbent, Ayodele Fayose, and whoever is his anointed candidate in the Peoples Democratic Party in all the 16 Local Government Areas, the same way the governor defeated the immediate past governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, in the last election.

Oni spoke while addressing journalists in Ifaki, his country home, during his official declaration and expression of interest for the 2018 election.

He said there was nothing so spectacular in the acclaimed political wizardry of Fayose who twice defeated two former incumbent governors of the state, at different times, describing the misery being mild around Fayose as product of sentiment

“About Fayose, this is not a game of arrogance. He is not larger than life as being speculated

“He, along with others once deployed their political machinery against me in certain political contest but if you recall, I still emerged victorious, so what are you talking about”?

Oni blamed irregular payment of workers’ salaries in Ekiti state on wrong prioritisation of government’s policies and programmes, saying it was irrational for a state governor to be building multi-billion naira overhead bridge where workers welfare and well-being are left unattended.

He explained that his interest to contest was in response to the growing clamour for his candidature by many residents and major stakeholders, who he claimed told him his services were earnestly needed.

He said he would use his return to power to instil a new social and economic order in the state as well as correct certain mistakes and errors he made during his first-term tenure, which was later terminated by the Appeal Court.

Besides, he said his love to take the state to the next level, rescue it from poverty and make it rank as one of the best among the comity of states was his major driving force.

Noting that his current position as a deputy national chairman of the ruling party commanded respect, glamour and high volume of honour, he said preferred to be a state governor, so as to be able to use the platform to uplift lives as well as build the right type of social infrastructures.

“Though I am not hungry for power, I prefer to be governor of my state than being something else. I am not the type who prefer glamour to service,” he said.

The former governor said he was ready to face primaries, urging people to discountenance the rumour that the national secretariat of the party had concluded arrangements to impose him as a candidate.