Ekiti 2018: Ensure ticket goes to progressive, group urges APC leaders

By Femi Ojo

Ahead of the 2018 gubernatorial election in Ekiti State, the All Progressives Congress, (APC) have been urged to ensure the ticket goes to a progressive candidate.
In a chat on Thursday, the President of the Liberty Movement, (LIM) said the progressives across Nigeria are waiting impatiently for the 2018 Ekiti election. He spoke to Irohinoodua in Lagos.

“We have always been involved in Ekiti election. The human rights activists and the progressives across Nigeria made Ekiti their home during the past elections because Ekiti is dear to the hearts of the human rights community. We are going to repeat the same tradition until we wrestle Ekiti from the claws of rogues and visionless politicians”, the statement signed by the President, Mr Sola Edward Ajayi stated adding that Ekiti people needs a ‘new beginning , a clean slate and a radical break from the past.’ He said the Liberty Movement, (LIM) had inaugurated a new chapter of the group in Ekiti late last year.

He noted that victory will be swifter if the APC candidate is a progressive, ‘with a track record in the field of human rights, activism and radical politics’ saying that it is by producing a bold and courageous progressive that the APC can retrieve Ekiti State from the claws of what he called ‘reactionary politicians.’

Ajayi said “It will be a mistake to pick people with track record of human right violations or who have been associated with abuse of power or electoral heist. There is the need to break the circle of retrogression and uplift the state from stupor.” He said no matter the credential of any of the PDP candidates, the PDP’s candidate will be “nothing less than the continuation of Mr Ayo Fayose’s comedy or errors.”

He said that at present, governance has gone into the backbench in Ekiti and that Mr Fayose covers up by meddling in national politics for cheap publicity and to divert attention from the overabundance of economic problems at the homefront.

He said “We have a governor who is owing workers’ salary but chose to leave ostentatious live. There is no due process in the award of contracts. There is no policy on agriculture. There is no policy on education. There is nothing on environment. There is in fact no blueprint except to concentrate on verbose projects that have no connection with the livelihood of the people.”

According to him “Ekiti election is very critical to the heart of the Yoruba Nation. It is very essential to the future of the progressives in Nigeria. Ekiti has always been the bastion of resistance against tyranny until the reactionary Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) took over the State. We urge Ekiti people to rise up and defend the legacy of the forefathers of the state. The starting point is for the APC to pick a credible candidate that can fast track development and above all an outstanding progressive,”Ajayi added.

He said further “Ekiti has no business being ruled by a tyrant who runs the state by instinct. Ekiti has the most educated people in Nigeria. The state must rise up and provide once again the leadership of the progressive family in Nigeria’