Ekiti 2022: Withdraw if you can’t withstand real contest – Oyebanji to Oni

Biodun Oyebanji, the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for Ekiti State’s June 18 election, has asked his Social Democratic Party opponent, Segun Oni, to quit if he is not ready for a serious fight in the next election.

He claimed that Oni was acting as if he was expected to be imposed on Ekiti through statements and dispositions, rather than a real contest based on bogus claims he had reportedly been making against the ruling party to achieve importance.

On Friday, Oyebanji claimed this in Ado Ekiti, in response to the SDP’s claim that its deputy governorship candidate, Ladi Owolabi, was attacked by suspected APC thugs on Wednesday.

Debunking the report, Oyebanji, who addressed through his campaign’s Director of Media and Publicity, Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun warned the former governor against expecting to be elected governor of Ekiti on a silver platter or in an undemocratic manner.

According to Oyebanji, the people of Ekiti will chose their leaders through a keen and democratic process, rather than by imposition, thuggery, and the leveling of baseless allegations for cheap political capital.

Oyebanji and members of his political campaign family, according to the APC candidate, are “seriously preoccupied” with the ongoing electioneering campaigns and “would not fall to the level of supporting thuggery and unwarranted attacks.”

“I want to say with all sincerity and open heart that the APC was not aware of any attack on the SDP deputy governorship candidate.
“And if truly it happened, I want to dissociate our members from it, because we are busy campaigning all over Ekiti. We are the ruling party and we have a lot of good projects we have done to campaign to Ekiti people, so we have no reason to attack anyone”, he said.

The APC candidate added further, “With the ways they have been threatening the people and raising false allegations, I don’t think Segun Oni is prepared for a real contest.

“All he wanted is getting the governorship through blackmail and on a platter of gold, which we believed was undemocratic. If he finds himself unprepared for the contest, he can withdraw honourably from the race.

“Oyebanji had unveiled his manifesto, which is his social contract with the Ekiti people and it covered human capital development, infrastructure, healthcare delivery, commercial agriculture, and good governance, among others.

“So, we are running a race that is well defined. Let other party candidates, including Oni learn from us, unveil his manifesto if they have any and let the people know what they have in stock for them, rather than stoking violence, attacks and unrest”.