Tomorow's governorship election is on the lips of everybody in Ekiti State. Supporters of the leading candidates have shouted at rooftops about why and how their candidates would emerge as governor. Candidates in the election include the incumbent governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; a former governor of the state, Mr. Ayo Fayose; a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele; and Mr. Kole Ajayi. Fayemi is running on the platform of the All Progressives Congress; Fayose is hoisting the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party; Bamidele is representing the Labour Party while Ajayi is the standard bearer of the Accord Party.
Fayemi
The incumbent governor on Tuesday took to twitter in the last leg of his campaign for second term in office by trying again to bring into focus the achievements of his government in the first term. He tweeted: "Dear Ekiti people, it is four days to that day when we have to choose wisely. Let's remember it is one man, one vote as we cast our votes. For almost four years now, my team and I envisioned restoring public confidence in government by putting the people first. We put the people first in development planning and execution by interacting with them on what their needs are. We reformed governance on the basis of openness, transparency, selfless service, priority and accountability in the management of public funds. The results are there for all to see in the programmes and social welfare that we have delivered on so far.
To add religious impetus into his political campaign, Muslim women in Ekiti State, under the aegis of the Federation of Muslim Women's Association of Nigeria, also organised a prayer session for the governor and his Wife, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, on Sunday. Led by the State President (Amirah), Alhaja Fausat Ahmed-Yusuf, the women had converged on Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, from the 16 Local Government Areas of the state for the prayer session. She said the governor made it possible for Muslim female students to wear hijab to public schools.
To sustain a cordial relationship with traditional rulers, Fayemi has promised to continue to accord the welfare of Ekiti traditional rulers an utmost priority for them to perform the task of ensuring peace and stability in the state.
He made the statement in Ado-Ekiti on Monday while presenting a vehicle each to the Attah of Ayede Ekiti, Oba Mumini Orisagbemi, and the Olupole of Ipole Iloro, Oba Oladele Babatola. Represented by Special Adviser, Chieftaincy Affairs, Chief Aderemi Ajayi, Fayemi said all the monarchs in the 131 towns in the state had been presented vehicles by his administration in 2013 with the exemption of the two traditional rulers, who had not ascended the throne at that time.
Fayemi over the weekend was treated to another tumultuous rally by the organised labour in support of his ambition. Nigerian Labour Congress and Trade Union of Congress on Saturday endorsed him for the June 21 governorship election.
The NLC President, Abdulwaheed Omar, led other national executive members on a visit on the governor after the union's National Administrative Council and the Central Working Committee meetings in Ado-Ekiti.
Bamidele
With a few hours to the governorship election, Bamidele, like his rivals, engaged in wide ranging consultations and campaign to gain more supporters. Already he has visited all the 16 local government areas in the state, telling the people what he has in stock for them if elected as the next governor. It, however, came as a shock to Bamidele when news went round the state that he has not done anything for his hometown, Iyin Ekiti.
Some of Fayemi's aides, led by Chief George Ojo addressed a news conference in Ado-Ekiti, where they claimed that Bamidele has not contributed in any way to the development of the town and does not deserve to be governor of the State. However, the elders in Iyin-Ekiti rallied round the LP candidate whom they call their son and warned those sponsoring false news to desist from such. The spokesperson for the community's elders, Chief Ojo Ogundare, described the attack on Bamidele as unfortunate, saying that although the LP candidate is just about 50 years old, he ranks within the first three in the hierarchy of those who have contributed financially towards the development of the town.
Ogundare said that as a member of the House of Representatives, Bamidele has not collected a kobo as salary since his inauguration. Instead he donated the money to the development of his constituency.
Ogundare recalled that in 2004, when Bamidele was Chairman of Iyin Day celebration, he helped generate N5.4 million for his community and ever since, he has been donating generously to all the quarters of the town yearly. The people of Iyin further pledged their support for Bamidele in the forthcoming election.
Recently, he also had talks with the Ekiti State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress when he promised to integrate the NLC into his government if elected as the next governor of the state.
Bamidele said that integrating the NLC and other trade unions into governance would check the recurrent disagreements between labour and government at all levels.
On Monday, the LP candidate met with youths across the state, promising them that he would better their lives by providing job opportunities.
He also promised that if elected as the governor he would reduce the school fees in state tertiary institutions.
He said, "This administration does not have the interest of the masses at heart. This has been demonstrated in all areas particularly in the tertiary education sector where exorbitant fees are being charged not minding the peasant nature of Ekiti residents
"It is against the philosophy of the founding fathers of the LP to charge schools at cutthroat rate. How do you expect a peasant farmer to send his wards to school with this kind of extortion? Go to Ondo State where the LP is in control and ask them how much they are paying in a similar institution even with better facilities and more conducive work environment for students and lecturers. Today, Ondo State charges N25, 000 in Adekunle Ajasin University while the APC in Ekiti is charging N150,000."
Fayose
The PDP governorship candidate said if he became governor he would use his close relationship with the Federal Government to ensure that Ekiti indigenes were allotted more slots in the Federal Civil Service, the military and police, thereby creating more jobs for the people.
At a forum with the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, he told workers in the state that he would not victimise anybody if voted into office.
In the area of agriculture, Fayose said he would initiate a buyback mechanism whereby the state would buy produce from farmers in a bid to encourage Ekiti people to go into farming.
He promised to subsidise drugs and improve primary healthcare delivery.
"Most people do not want to go into agriculture anymore because it is not mechanised. They toil and cannot feed themselves. We must address this through mechanised farming. The key problem in agriculture here is the buyback mechanism. You plant yam, which you have a season for and it gets bad because you cannot keep it.
"When you get mango, you can't preserve it and it spoils, the farmer will be discouraged the next year. As a farmer, if your products are destroyed, you will get discouraged.
"The same goes for the health sector. There is nothing wrong in buying drugs but at what rate? Today, you find out that the drugs in public hospital are getting more expensive than what obtains outside public hospital. So there should be control measures and intervention. There will be a situation in the health sector where all stakeholders have to come together and do a revolving fund to sustain medication."
In the area of infrastructure, the Afao-born politician boasted that he was the one that constructed all the major roads in the state during his first tenure. He said the current administration never built any new road but only embarked on road maintenance. He promised that he would construct new roads in the state.
The former governor promised not to ban the movement of commercial motorcycle riders in the state and warned them that if Fayemi was re-elected, he would ban them from major roads in the state like the APC-led administration has done in Lagos State.
He said physically challenged persons and albinos would be given better care if he was voted into office.
He said Fayemi had not done enough to address the plight of the downtrodden in Ekiti.
The former governor also met with various associations of artisans and promised to ensure that all government contracts were done by indigenes in the state.
Ajayi
Ajayi promised that the welfare of the aged would be a key element in his administration.
He said the present welfare scheme for the aged which was being implemented by the present administration was partisan and promised to expand its scope if voted into office.
Ajayi said most of the contracts in the state were being given to non-indigenes and promised to create jobs by ensuring that all jobs were done by Ekiti people.
He said his administration would curtail government spending, citing the new Government House under construction as a waste of public funds.
He said as governor, he would be accessible to members of the public and would not run an elitist government.
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