The 8 APC Governorship Aspirants of Ekiti

Not less than eight governorship aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have obtained the nomination and expression of interest forms.

The aspirants are a former member of the House of Representatives, Opeyemi Bamidele; Sen. Ayo Arise; a former Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Femi Bamisile; Victor Kolade; and Gbenga Aluko among others.

Speaking on Wednesday after picking his forms, Bamidele, who contested on the platform of Labour Party (LP) in 2014, said the entrance of former governor Kayode Fayemi was not a threat to his ambition.

The founding member of the APC, who voiced confidence in the ability of the party to organise a transparent primary election for all the aspirants, said Dr Fayemi would work for him if he emerged as the candidate through a credible electoral process.

Also speaking today, another governorship aspirant, Kolade described the stomach infrastructural focus of Governor Ayo Fayose as “farce and fraud”.

The aspirant, who said the people of Ekiti were still hungry despite the governor’s policy of ‘stomach infrastructure’, also flayed him for allegedly wasting billion of Naira on the construction of bridge.

“One thing I have always told my audience is that the human capital in Ekiti is not developed. Now, if you take N1.6 billion for instance and give N100 million to each of the 16 local governments and then form co-operatives, you then ask people to access the loans, you would have created more millionaires in the state.

“The bridge is so long that no one will even use it except few people travelling very far because underneath it, there are so many easy outlets that motorists can use,” he also said.

He also stressed the need to address the behavioural attitude of an average Ekiti person, saying most of the youths now take to drugs.

The former Speaker Ekiti State House of Assembly, Bamisile, while addressing journalists after picking his forms, said that he was on a restoration mission.

In his remarks, Senator Arise, who said the party leadership had promised to provide a level playing field for all the aspirants, added that “Governor Fayose knows he is a 'gonner'” if he won the ticket.

He said the governor was just waiting for the party to make a mistake in her choice of candidate.