Ekiti 2022: I am Buoyed by People’s Support, Says Oni

Chinedu Eze

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Segun Oni, who has indicated interest to contest in the June 2022 gubernatorial election on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday said he was standing on the support of the people ‘who are urging him to govern them again’.
Oni, who became the governor of the state in 2007 but was ousted by the Appeal Court in 2010, said his vision is to put the state on the path of financial autonomy.
The former governor, who made this know on The Sunday Morning Show programme of Arise News TV, said he was motivated and encouraged to contest the election because of the enormous support from the people of the state.
He stated that he had people oriented programmes, which he started but were abandoned by his successors, who started their own programmes, arguing that those programmes started by his successors, Ayo Fayose, who led the state from 2014 to 2018 and Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the current governor, are not people-oriented, so they did not empower the people as individuals.
Oni said during his tenure, he introduced education technology to create digital environment and made laptops available for senior secondary students with the aim to expose them to IT knowledge and skills, and make them competitive globally.
He also said he brought in coaches and introduced football and athletics in schools to groom the young ones as well as discover their talent in schools.
Oni expressed regret that those programmes were discontinued when he was removed from office.
According to him, he wants to be governor again in 2022 so that he would reintroduce these people-oriented programmes and also put the state on the path of economic independence.
He said: “Some of the roads I started were abandoned. It is the same with the water project, which was also abandoned. So my aim is to invest in the people and in the future of the people. I introduced IT learning to create digital environment for the pupils so that they will become innovative and compete with others in the world.”
On his chances, he said he was optimistic because he has the support of the people, adding that what the politicians should do is to ensure that there is transparent election, and that the vote of the people counts.
“I believe my chance is very bright. I came into the race because the people want me now. I am being driven by the support of the people,” Oni said.
On why he left the PDP and joined another party only to come back to the party (PDP), he said that when he was thrown out as governor of Ekiti State, the party did not fight for him, and he felt “very low” about the party, where he was the national vice chairman then.
“I later discovered that there were some conspiracies. That was the beginning of the disenchantment in the party. That was a very low period, so I left the party,” he said.