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From Fred Itua, Abuja
Ahead of the forthcoming general elections, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and an aspirant for the senatorial ticket in Ekiti North, Senator Ayodele Arise, has urged Governor Biodun Oyebanji to be wary of imposition, as it could have negative consequences for his governorship election in June.
He also cautioned party stakeholders against any plot to impose candidates, particularly in his senatorial district.
Senator Arise stated this at the weekend while speaking with newsmen.
The 2026 Electoral Act provides for direct primaries and a consensus option, open to political parties fielding candidates in general elections.
Amid speculation that federal lawmakers in the ruling party would emerge through a consensus arrangement, thereby precluding other aspirants, Senator Arise vowed that no one would be imposed as the senatorial candidate in Ekiti North, currently represented by Senator Cyril Fasuyi.
He said, “The terms are very clear. It’s either consensus or direct primaries. Now, a number of people felt that since we already have a government in place, the governor can just unilaterally appoint those he wants as the people who will run for election using some of his political appointees.
“But the governor has come out to say he has no hand in such arrangements, even though we see some people using his name here and there.
“For me, I had told the campaign committee that nobody should just bring any name to my senatorial district because I’m running. And I ran before I was in the Senate. I gave a very good account of myself. The people in the senatorial district are almost across the state. They have quite a lot of respect for what I did while I was in the Senate and the people in the senatorial district had the opportunity to test what you call representation while I was in the Senate.
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“The fact that I want to go back should tell them that, look, things are not going on the way we planned for our state. Of course, we were very lucky that the leader of the Senate is from my Ekiti, and he has done tremendously well for that senatorial district without any question. So for us, we’re now asking, what is the value added from the person that we sent there? And that is a question the populace is asking.
“Endorsement is not part of what INEC has suggested. It’s only consensus and it means if there are three or four of us, if we can’t convince one another to step down for one person and we do not all agree, then the primary will go and settle the matter.
“You know, those crude systems. We are civilised people, and we must continue to improve and that’s my position. There is no quarrel in my party. I’ve only told them I’m not agreeing to any crooked endorsement, you know, without going into the primaries. And that is the position of INEC. I’m not saying anything differently.”
He added, “That Senator Fasuyi is the Director General of Governor Oyebamiji really means nothing. The governor will change him; if he doesn’t change him, he will see what they call transferred aggression. He has an election in June, so he does not need Cyril Fasuyi to be his DG. It is either Cyril Fasuyi is his DG or he drops from being a contestant. So why would you select somebody who is running against other people as your DG? For what? He has no value that he wants to add to the election of the governor.
“Now there will be transferred aggression, even if you say, ok, I’m not going, which I’m not desperate because there is nothing I’m desperate for. God has been kind to me. But this one, I want to help my people and this guy has not done anything to justify the four years we gave him there.”
The aspirant also dismissed speculation that his ambition is being opposed because he is the anointed choice of former Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi.
“I am not a hungry man. For anyone to say somebody is sponsoring me, that means that person is giving me money to run and is sponsoring my campaign here and there. I had been an ICT person and I’ve been largely blessed. I’m not a hungry man. So that’s why, as we speak today, I don’t have anything to point to that maybe the party has done for me, ever in Ekiti, or even at the federal level. Where I put my name, they would just say, oh, it’s Fayemi’s person.
“Forgetting the fact that Fayemi was governor, I ran two or three times. Fayemi did not allow me to go to the Senate. He gave it to somebody else. So I don’t know why all of a sudden the noise now is that, oh, Fayemi is the one sponsoring him. I don’t know where that is coming from because I spoke with all of them.”
