Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

A member of the seventh House of Representatives, Hon. Bamidele Faparusi, has urged the members of the All Progressives Congress(APC) to be united and work hard to win the July 14 governorship election
in Ekiti state.

Faparusi said the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun are very strategic to the reelection bid of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying winning the polls would pave way for the president to have an easy
ride to victory in the southwest.

The governorship aspirant , who hails from Ode Ekiti in Gbonyin local government area in Ekiti South senatorial district, said the party must comply with the ideals of democracy and fairness to realize the mission of reclaiming Ekiti from the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).

Faparusi said these in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday while addressing members of the National Association of Nigerian Students(NANS) , who came to honour him for his meritorious service to the people.

The APC chieftain said : “Even,  President Buhari himself knew that Ekiti and Osun Elections are key to his second term bid and it is now left for the Chief John Oyegun-led National Working Committee to do the right thing by conducting free and fair primary , rather than imposing any aspirant.

“Let me say this, for APC to be able to convince Ekiti electorate, many things must be addressed. The party must show civility and respect for democracy by ensuring that internal democracy prevails in the primary.

“When President Buhari was sworn-in as the President, he gave the hope that he was coming to give justice and fairplay. This gave us hope that the issue of zoning that has generated so much controversies in Ekiti will be addressed.

“Since 1999, the Central and North senatorial districts have held-sway with each producing two governors each. The present Governor, Ayodele Fayose and Otunba Niyi Adebayo are from the Central while Dr Kayode Fayemi and Engr Segun Oni were from the North and I think it will be right and justiceable to concede the ticket to the south this time
around.

“In case our national leaders don’t know, zoning has become a serious issue in Ekiti today and that has been the only card being used by Governor Fayose to campaign for his deputy, Prof Kolapo Olusola, who is from the south.

“I want to believe that the outcome of the election might be disastrous should our party fails to pick his candidate from the South and this may affect our chances in 2019”, he warned.

Faparusi said youth empowerment in terms of employment generation through commercial agriculture , revamped tourism potential and payment of bursary to students will form the kernel of his government if elected.

“I was a student leader during my days at the Federal University of Technology , Akure , so I knew the value of bursary and scholarship to students. I will reform the state’s bursary and scholarship scheme to make life meaningful to the indigent students.

“I am an ardent believer in reward for excellence, the state government under me shall institute state awards for graduates and undergraduates who distinguish themselves in their academic careers.

“Reward for excellence will help in boosting the country’s standard of education apart from being a veritable instrument to eradicate cyber-crime fondly called yahoo-boys, political thuggery and robbery”, Faparusi said.

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