'Federal might not enough to beat Fayose in 2018'

Former House of Representatives member, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, has warned leaders and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) inEkiti State against relying on federal might alone to win the 2018 governorship election.


Daramola, who is one of the governorship aspirants in the APC advised party leaders to put their house in order and work with a unity of purpose to regain the state number one seat from Governor Ayo Fayose and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

While stressing that the 2018 election is not a walkover for the APC, Daramola said the party must connect with the people now wait till the candidate emerges before selling its change agenda to the electorate.

Daramola who spoke with reporters in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital on Friday on the sidelines of a party to mark his 50th birthday anniversary said he has the credentials to fly the party’s flag as the candidate in the July 14, 2018 governorship poll.

He claimed that despite the perceived “disappointing performance” of Fayose, a good number of the electorate still has sympathy for the governor noting that it behoves on the APC and its leaders to highlight why Fayose and his anointed candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, must not be allowed to retain power in 2018.

Daramola said: “With the way things are going, it seems APC is treating issues with levity. They are underrating Governor Ayodele Fayose, whom I know has the mastery but not the mystery. But the fact that the APC looks weak makes him appears mysterious.

“For us to win this election, we must stand up to him. We must tell Ekiti how far Fayose’s tokenism called stomach infrastructure has gone to ruin them.

“We must connect with the electorate and do a deep retrospection of why Dr Fayemi, a man who did so well lost in such a scandalous manner.

“We must let them know that the N5.7 billion flyover is a waste of public funds, because it has no capacity to strengthen our economy. It will only serve as tourism for rural dwellers without benefit.

“That is why we must not trivialize this issue. We must not allow all comers affair. We must look for the best and forget the fantasy of federal might, because no one can underrate the fact that Fayose is a streetwise and popular politician that must be tackled holistically.”

Speaking on the joining of the governorship race by former Governor, Chief Segun Oni and the alleged interest by the immediate past Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Daramola advised the duo to drop their ambitions which he said could destabilize the party.

He said further: ““The day my leader, Dr. Fayemi declares interest will be a dark day for me. How can Dr. Fayemi and Engr. Oni, who are supposed to provide leadership be contesting?

“Whoever thinks he will come here to write election results is just wasting his time. Ekiti has gone beyond that. It is baffling that our leaders were so weak to have allowed over 40 aspirants to show interest in the ticket without regulation.”