The Ekiti state Deputy Governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, on Friday urged members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state not to betray the party in the upcoming general elections.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that he made the appeal while inaugurating the APC Ekiti Central Senatorial Campaign Council for the 2019 elections.
He said the only thing he foresaw that could dim the chances of the party in the coming polls was acts of betrayal.
NAN reports that the council was saddled with the responsibility of campaigning across the 57 wards and the five local government areas in the senatorial district.
They were expected to work for the victories of President Muhammadu Buhari and the senatorial candidate, Mr Opeyemi Bamidele at the polls.
They were also expected to canvass votes for the House of Representatives candidates in constituencies 1 and II: Sola Fatoba and Wunmi Ogunlola respectively and the House of Assembly candidates in the elections.
Egbeyemi said : “The task is not too much for us to achieve. We are here today because Bamidele did not die during the gunshot of June 1, 2018.
*God specifically preserved him for the senatorial ticket, because he will win.
” There are those who cannot be trusted in our party, particularly, when it comes to mobilising for elections. We should do the mobilisation for the sake of our party.
” If you are given any logistic, make judicious use of it in the interest of our party. Let us be dedicated. All we want is free and fair elections, we will not tolerate crises.
“We must learn from the mistakes of the last governorship election. If you are given campaign tools and you diverted it, God shall punish such person. We must be faithful to our party and the people.
“When I saw the list of the council, I had a conclusion that these were people that own the district, so the job has been made easier if only we can go home and work hard.
” I want you to visit those areas where our people did not do well in the last election and correct those mistakes.
“We are not going to buy votes, we are not used to it.
” All we need to tell our people is that our candidates will do well the way governor Kayode Fayemi has been doing,” he said.
Also. Mr Opeyemi Bamidele, the senatorial candidate for the district under APC , said candidates in the district would run a joint campaign since it was about the survival of the party and not about individuals.
Also speaking, the APC State Chairman, Chief Paul Omotoso, urged members to eschew division and educate voters to be careful when they wanted to cast their votes in the forthcoming elections.
He said that would help to reduce the number of votes that would be voided , saying that affected the party in the last governorship election.
Omotoso urged them to begin voter education , bemoaning that the party lost over 18,000 votes to poor voting in the last governorship election held in the state thereby reducing the margin of defeat to 19,000.
” No one will be willing to join the PDP today because it is crisis ridden. So, as we are trying to poach good people from the opposition, don’t allow crises that can dissuade those who want to join us. We must work like a team for the coming polls
“We are not going to tolerate a situation whereby you will be our member and you will vote for PDP on the day of election
” We are monitoring you, if we get you to be a mole in APC, then you are finished politically. The APC will not allow the PDP to win again in Ekiti, we will never make such a mistake, so you need to beware and be loyal.
“The PDP is no longer a credible alternative in Ekiti and Nigeria,” he said.
NAN reports that, in line with the composition of the Campaign Council, the deputy governor is the grand patron of the council, Chief J.F. Alake is the Chairman while the activities of the campaign would be co-chaired by Chief Remi Oguntuase.
The list also include: Prof Adio Afolayan, as the Campaign Coordinator , Chief Ropo Ige as the Deputy Coordinator, the representatives of the civil servants and other eminent APC members from the zone. (NAN)