A member of the seventh House of Representatives, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele has disclosed that he had an agreement with the former Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, on how All Progressives Congress can win the July 14 governorship election in the state.
Bamidele said he decided to settle rift with Fayemi purposely because both leaders have to work relentlessly to ensure that the party returns to power in Ekiti State.
He described the agitations by aspirants from Ekiti South Senatorial District that power must shift to the zone as a legitimate one, clarifying that such would not preclude contestants from other districts from exercising their rights in line with the constitution.
Bamidele and Fayemi have been seen fraternizing in recent time, which some people interpreted as an attempt by the Minister to persuade the former federal legislator to renounce his ambition for him to scheme a return to Ekiti government
house.
The two parted ways prior to the 2014 governorship poll, forcing Bamidele to contest on the platform of Labour Party for that year’s gubernatorial election.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday while declaring his intention at the party’s secretariat in Ado Ekiti, Bamidele said the pact between him and Fayemi was not for personal aggrandizement, but for the corporate benefit to the party.
“Yes, the Minister visited my office in Abuja and the Special Adviser on Political Matters to the President, Mr Babafemi Ojudu, also wrote a goodwill message to me as I declare my intention today. To me, this is a sign of good development.
“All these shouldn’t give room for speculation that someone was trying to persuade the other to shelve ambition for the other. All the party leaders must work together, so our working together and their visits to my office was not for selfish interest or about our ambitions alone.
“What these signaled was that it is no longer the old story. It showed that APC is no longer in war. It shows that the party is becoming more united and stronger. It showed that we are giving each other mutual respect.
“I made it clear at every political gathering I attended that I had settled rift with Fayemi. The two of us are frontline party men and we have to work together to rescue our party. We are doing same with Engr. Segun Oni, all in the interest of our party,” he said.
He said the agitations for zoning won’t preclude him and others from exercising their rights to contest for the governorship seat.
“I want to say that zoning is a legitimate issue. It is also legitimate for every district of the state to aspire in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The constitution of our party didn’t respect zoning and even the constitution, so we are free to contest irrespective of the legitimacy of the agitations.”
Bamidele said he never defected from APC to another party, saying the party had not been formed when he defected to LP in 2013.
“I was one of the legal team that returned the Certificate of Registration of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria to INEC for APC to be consummated.
“I stood with ACN till the last time when the certificate was returned. The progressives then were not unaware of the need for us to merge with other parties to be able to win at the centre and that led to the death of ACN.
“But because of the misunderstanding among the leaders of our party, I then quit even before the registration of the new party.
“This is not even a basis for argument. Senator Ayo Arise left the Action Congress to the PDP in 2007 when he thought the primary that produced Fayemi was not fair enough and today, he is back, ditto Engr Oni.
“We must realize that politicians must have bus stops before getting to the destination. So, whatever happens to us on the way should not be taken as issues but getting to the destination, I mean winning the next election must be our ultimate target”, he advised.
The Deputy Chairman of the party, Mrs Kemi Olaleye, said the party holds Bamidele in high regard, saying his declaration would be an impetus to the party to reclaim the state back from the PDP.
Olaleye assured that the party will conduct free and credible primary to make the party to have a united front to prosecute the next election.
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