A member of the House of Representatives and governorship aspirant in the state, Hon. Femi Bamisile, has warned it would be a dangerous mistake for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to ignore the ‘deafening’ calls by members from the south senatorial district of the state to zone the governorship ticket to the area.h
The governorship poll in the Ekiti state is billed for June 18, 2022.
The lawmaker said he was not rattled by the alleged endorsement of the immediate past Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Abiodun Oyebanji for the 2022 governorship race by Governor Kayode Fayemi.
Bamisile said he remained one of the most experienced grassroots politicians in the state and that such endorsement, which he branded as “unpopular” could not be a source of threat or worry to him.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), stated this in Ado-Ekiti on Monday while donating fertilisers worth N200 million to farmers across 177 wards in Ekiti.
He spoke about the Ekiti South senatorial district agitation for zoning of the governorship ticket to the district.
He said he had joined the race to ensure that he won the APC government ticket at the primary scheduled for January 22, to give the people of the Ekiti South their deserved reckoning in Ekiti politics.
“I am not disturbed by any unpopular endorsement. I am a veteran in politics and one of the most experienced grassroots politicians in Ekiti politics. I know what politics entails.
“In the last governorship election in 2018, Governor Fayemi won with less than 19,000 votes, which was the least margin in the history of governorship in the state. So, someone like me can’t be troubled by any imposition or endorsement”.
Bamisile added further; “If the Nigerian populace are saying that after eight years of presidency in the North, that power should return to the South, I see no reason why after 24 years of democracy in Ekiti a particular zone is still being sidelined. This really baffles me”.
Bamisile said he had taken respite in the fact that the national leadership of the party under Governor Mai Mala Buni, had promised a free, fair and credible primary, saying he had nothing to fear.
“The national leader of our party has told us that the primary will be conducted. The party does not state that we have lost just because someone was endorsed. Let us wait and see, man had spoken, let us wait for God to do His own”.
Speaking about the importance of agriculture, Bamisile said President Muhammadu Buhari is investing huge sum of money on farming and also counseling Nigerians on the need to embrace agriculture to bail the country out of famine and poverty.
He said the need for every productive Ekiti citizen to be encouraged to go into farming to reduce poverty and unemployment informed the reason for the support he was giving to farmers across the state.
“What we are giving out worth over N200 million to our farmers across Ekiti. President Muhammadu Buhari had said severally that we need to diversify from oil and farming remains the best option where the Nigerian populace and Ekiti in particular has high comparative advantage”.
The Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Ekiti chapter, Mr. Adebola Alagbada, applauded Bamisile’s gesture, saying the generous donation would boost food production in Ekiti.
