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Oni threatens to quit APC if his supporters are victimised

By Ayodele Afolabi, Ado-Ekiti
16 May 2018   |   3:12 am
Former Governor of Ekiti State and contestant in the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary, Segun Oni, has threatened to leave the party if his supporters were intimidated. Oni alleged that his supporters were being harassed with threats that they won’t be recognized in the event that Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi,…


Former Governor of Ekiti State and contestant in the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary, Segun Oni, has threatened to leave the party if his supporters were intimidated.

Oni alleged that his supporters were being harassed with threats that they won’t be recognized in the event that Minister of Mines and Steel
Development, Kayode Fayemi, wins the July 14 poll.

He, however, appreciated Fayemi’s gesture of visiting him almost immediately after the election result was declared, saying unity of purpose and friendliness could only be sustained if Fayemi engages his supporters to engender cohesion within the party.

He stressed that he would only return to his former position of APC National Deputy Chairman (South), if leaders of the party ask him to take up that challenge.

In the keenly contested primary, Fayemi polled 941 votes to defeat other 32 contestants, while Oni came second with 481 votes.

Speaking with journalists in Ifaki-Ekiti yesterday, Oni said he was ready to change the mindset of Ekiti politicians that defection remains the only option after losing an election as a popular and acceptable politician by staying put in APC.

“If they continue to harass my supporters, I may quit the party, because I have responsibility not only to protect them but also to ensure that they are not taken for a ride,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Ekiti State, Akinloye Ayegbusi, has urged the Ekiti electorate to look beyond the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the only platforms for genuine change in the July 14, 2018 governorship election.

He said that the two parties have been trusted and tested in the past but they failed the people woefully.

In a statement in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, Ayegbusi described the APC and PDP as too corrupt to lead Ekiti, taking cognizance of the slow pace of development the state had witnessed since its creation in 1996.

Ayegbusi advised the people to reject the two parties, having allegedly mismanaged the state resources when given the opportunity, and embrace the SDP, which he described as a more progressive political platform that was committed to initiating policies that would rejuvenate the state’s economy and make life more meaningful for the people.

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