A former Lawmaker representing Ekiti North Federal Constituency 1, Bimbo Daramola, has said the Governor of the state, Biodun Oyebanji is unfazed of a fellow aspirant under the All Progressive Congress (APC), Kayode Ojo ahead of the party’s primary elections slated for October 27.
He described as untrue, the rumour that Oyebanji forbade cabinet members and local government chairmen in the state from entertaining Kayode Ojo and other aspirants in their vicinities, saying the Governor was a democrat.
Addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti, Daramola said Oyebanji only expressed his views, adding that the Governor has the rights to the contextual expression of his opinion about any issue.
Speaking on the lingering discord within the party, Daramola maintained that there’s no crisis within the APC, noting that the incumbent Governor would win the primary without any calamity.
When asked on the method of primary election that might favour Oyebanji, he categorically emphasized that the Governor has everything it takes to defeat other aspirants whether the party decides to choose direct or indirect primary election.
He also condemned critics who faulted the Governor for taking a large number of stakeholders to the APC Secretariat in Abuja to submit his nomination form, saying the state’s helmsman is not a lone ranger but a sitting governor loved by all.
He said, “Oyebanji is not jittery about anybody, he’s not anxious about everybody. If in this context you’re talking about my friend and brother, Kayode Ojo, he knows himself. What has he told you he wants to do for Ekiti people?
“But I don’t want to talk too much about Kayode, because he’s my friend. I have tremendous respect for him, we have a charming relationship, so I’m not speaking like someone who doesn’t know him.
“The same way I accorded Governor Biodun Oyebanji respect when he was just an audience on the side, I will accord Kayode Ojo the same respect but I will speak to facts here.
“A man who has said bring the primary on is afraid? Who is afraid? No! Let me tell you in every society there is the capacity to decide varies. We are in a society that has different levels of understanding, people of different kinds. You cannot tell me that at this level that I am here and you will cut me a little bit of slack.
“The fact that I don’t have an appointment, I know why. That doesn’t mean I don’t play in that pool. When I get into that pool, they know when to throw my name with all humility, when you throw my name into the highest pool in this country, a number of people will say, ‘We recognize this name, we know this name’ There’s no doubt about that and you expect me to be thinking like somebody who has never stepped out of Igirigiri”.
