Bamidele makes U-turn on challenging APC guber primary in Ekiti 2022

Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, a candidate for the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ekiti’s recently concluded governorship primary, has toned down his threats to challenge the results of the shadow poll that produced Mr. Biodun Oyebanji as the party’s candidate.

Despite his resentment of the exercise, Bamidele said his decision not to challenge Oyebanji’s candidacy was motivated by the need to maintain unity and cohesion in the State chapter.

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Bamidele had promised to challenge the procedure in court, along with seven other aspirants who had boycotted it.

They alleged the exercise that produced the Ex -Secretary to the State Government was brazenly manipulated by Governor Abubakar Badaru-led APC committee.

But, in a statement entitled “Ekiti 2022 governorship primaries and my stand”, which he personally signed, the Ekiti Central Senator said he backtracked on his threats after critical stakeholders intervened and begged to him to sheathe his proverbial sword in the interest of the party

Bamidele maintained that he was ruffled by the alleged abysmal turn the shadow poll took and the betrayal of confidence but he won’t abandon the struggle to right the wrongs and make the party truly democratic.

“Yet, in spite of my strong convictions as expressed above, I have come to some irreversible conclusions and these are the messages I need to pass on to all and sundry today as I temporarily break my silence on the way forward. One is to say that I have chosen to drop the option of going to Court to sue the party.

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“The other is to make it crystal clear to everyone that both my supporters and I will not defect from APC. Details of the reasons which informed these choices will be communicated at a later date when my supporters and I address Ekiti people and Nigerians at large. It is not just about me.

“It is about the unity and progress of Ekiti State and her politically undermined and economically afflicted people. It is also about ensuring that the ground is not prepared for reactionary beneficiaries to take advantage of seeming lack of capacity to manage our affairs as a ruling party in the State.

“I also must coordinate and lead my own aspect of this popular struggle in a way to ensure that my supporters and stakeholders who had been isolated from the mainstream of the party become relevant again, for anything short of that can only be a highway to nowhere.

“We have all contributed so much to building this party in Ekiti State and the management, as well as its decision making process, cannot be an exclusive preserve of a few.

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“That is the new reality that those in control, including our national leadership must accept or it becomes a popular subject matter of a struggle around which a popular movement must be built. This is where I stand,” he added.