Ekiti 2018: Oodua groups adopt Ojudu for Governor


By Ayodele Oluwole
Pan Yoruba groups across the eight South West States have expressed full support for Senator Babafemi Ojudu’s ambition to emerge as the next governor of Ekiti State. The groups, a coalition of 35 organisations across the South West States said Ojudu will bring honour and pride to Ekiti State in the shortest time if he emerges as the governor of the state.
In a statement on Wednesday, Oodua Nationalist Coalition, (ONAC) an umbrella body of several Pan Yoruba groups said its decision to adopt Ojudu as the preferred candidate was informed by his track record and distinguished career as a progressives who has full understanding of the Yoruba political economy and how the South West can be lifted to greater height.
ONAC said it adopted Ojudu as the best candidate for Ekiti in the circumstance given his reputation in and outside Ekiti State.
The group said a leader can only be judged by the past not by future promises adding that the past cannot be erased why the future can be altered by choice.
ONAC urges delegates in the forthcoming election to be guided by truth and the need to guarantee a prosperous future for Ekiti State.
“We took a lot of things into consideration before coming up with this position. Senator Ojudu has been part of the movement for democracy since the 1980s when he was a boy. He was detained, tortured and nearly killed by the military. These are traits of a courage, dedication, valour and high ethics expected of a great leader. During the trying period of his detention, he wore only one pair of dress for about three years. He was offered material things which he rejected,” the statement signed by Chairman, ONAC Ekiti State Chapter, Mr Deji Omotoyinbo and the National Secretary, Mr Adekunle Ojo stated.
ONAC said since Senator Ojudu picked a career in public service, his credentials remain unblemished. It said Ojudu is “honest, creative, energetic and blessed with a global network that will attract unprecedented local and international goodwill to Ekiti State.” It urged all the contestants not to rely on winning the primary and general election through violence or intimidation saying that “victory at the poll will endure if only the victor emerges from the freewill of Ekiti people and not through threats of imposition and hate mongering.”
“For about 35 years, Senator Ojudu has ran a consistence race in public service, first as a journalist and then as a Senator. Later he became the Special Adviser to President Mohammadu Buhari. He dedicated his media career to public good nurtured by a revolutionary spirit to make the society better. His career in the Senate was without a single dark spot. Three years in the Presidency has also left him with a clean garment without a single dot stain,” ONAC stated.
The Pan Yoruba group said it will launch a house-to-house campaign in Ekiti State to educate people that the emergence of Senator Ojudu as the next governor is not only symbolic for Ekiti but also for the entire country and for Yoruba people across the old Western Region.