Former Governor of Ekiti State, Segun Oni and Deputy National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress(APC), yesterday insisted that he won’t dump the party if denied the governorship ticket for the July 14 poll.
Oni described the widespread rumour that he was having affinity with former President, Olusegun Obasanjo- sponsored coalition as a figment of imagination of those peddling the rumour and a desperate attempt to ridicule his rising profile .
He said he never intended to fly the governorship flag of the Social Democratic Party(SDP), which the rumour peddlers said Obasanjo’s coalition was secretly planning to use to contest the 2018 and 2019 elections.
Oni spoke in Ilawe and Ikere Ekiti on Monday during his campaign tour to the local governments to meet with delegates of the party ahead of the governorship primary slated for May.
Oni restated that he remains the sitting National Deputy Chairman (South) of the APC and a leading governorship aspirant in the state, saying nothing would propel him to abandon a platform that has given him prominence.
“They said I want to follow former President Basanjo’s coalition to SDP, this was a mere rumour. They went further to say I want to make Prince Adedayo Adeyeye my Deputy Governor in SDP. All these were lies just to rubbish my good profile.
“People have the right to imagine anything, no matter how senseless. I remain a leading governorship aspirant in APC. I want to contest the primary, wins the ticket and the governorship election. So, it will be tantamount to mere illusion for anybody to say I want to defect”, he said.
Oni hinged the abandonment of 215,000 Permanent Voter Cards(PVCs) by owners on despondence under a bad leadership in Ekiti State.
The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) gave the startling revelation in Ado Ekiti last week.
“When the electorate are despondent, they won’t collect their PVCs. We we appeal to them, we will beg them to go and collect them and vote
for APC and when we come on board, we will give them the best government and this will make them to have confidence in their
government again”.
He appealed to the delegates to cast their votes for him at the primary, saying he would justify the confidence reposed in his ability
to re-engineer the economy of the state for better.
The Chairman of APC in Ekiti Southwest local government, Chief Sola Akinwumi, described Oni as a humble and unique leader , who can do
Ekiti proud if given the second chance.
Akinwumi said Oni didn’t embezzle or compromise his integrity during his time as the governor of the state between 2007 and 2010, saying
this stands him in good stead to get the party’s flag.