By Jude Opara, Abuja
An aspirant in the forthcoming Ekiti state governorship election, Hon. Abimbola Olajumoke has declared that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may loose if the incumbent, Governor Biodun Oyebanji gets the ticket to represent the party.
Olajumoke who spoke after obtaining her Nomination and Expression of Interest Forms at the National Secretariait of the party said she stands a better chance of leading the party to victory because of her vast support base which she said cuts across the state.
She said it is regrettable that despite the huge amount of money the state has received from the federation account, the state has remained largely undeveloped with abundance of decaying infrastructure.
“I have told Governor Oyebanji that he can’t do anything because he has a lot of godfathers. He is feeding them, while the state suffers.
“If the party has agreed that Oyebanji should run unopposed, then there is no need to publish timetable and ask people to come and buy forms. If he represents the party, the APC might loose the election”.
The aspirant added that the governor instead of fixing the roads has decided to blame the federal government, by always giving the excuse that the bad roads are federal roads.
“Ekiti has received over N500b in the last three years from the federation account. Last year, the state received another N50b for agricultural development. If the money was properly utilized, it was good enough to enable the state feed the entire South West.
“I’m contesting to bring a desired change to the state. The government has wesponized poverty by only using the resources for personal aggrandizement”.
Olajumoke further alleged that the state government has taken over the resources of the local governments, insisting that they are only there in name. She pledged to fix the dilapidated roads within the first six months of her administration.
“The local governments are only there in name. The government is in control of everything, yet there are bad roads everywhere, including those leading into the state capital. Give me six months and all the abandoned roads will be fixed. Major roads that lead into the state are not even motorable”.
“When you ask, he claims that the roads are federal government roads. Then one wonders if you an opposition member? Are you now destabilizing the government of President Bola Tinubu”?
When asked if her position would not be seen as working against her party, the aspirant replied: “No, I am not indicting my party, I am rather presenting myself because I can do better than those who are there presently. The people will see the difference if given the opportunity to serve”.
Olajumoke also accused Governor Oyebanji of using the security agencies to try to intimidate her, insisting that nobody can cow her down.
“People are always suppressing women. The governor petitioned me to the Department of State Services (DSS) and that was an attempt to suppress me. When they saw the truth in my claims, they simply let me go.
“People in Ekiti will tell you that I am a consistent person. I worked with former Governor Ayo Fayose, but immediately he stopped paying salary of workers, l left him. He even arrested me and I was detained for one week.
“I have worked in empowering the women. I have gone to over 20 states in the country empowering and training people”.
She also promised to defend the interest of women and the downtrodden because they remain the backbone of her support base.
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