Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
Former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, has defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) ahead of the June 18 governorship poll in Ekiti State.
Aside Daramola, the Senior Special Assistant to the state Governor on Political Matters, Mr. Taye Olatunji, also defected with their 2,600 supporters to SDP.
Daramola defected and registered as a member of the SDP at Ward 2, Ire Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area, while Olatunji joined the party at Ido/Osi LGA.
Addressing his supporters, Daramola posited that his defection to the SDP was not an ill-conceived political move.
The former legislator said: “What I am doing today is not a mistake and it’s not a guess work, it’s a well thought out plan.”
He praised the SDP governorship candidate, Segun Oni, saying: “When Oni served as the state governor, Ekiti State was better. He paid salaries timely; he was very humble and he carried everyone along unlike the current system where people of the state were subjected to hardship.”
Daramola further described Oni as a man of honour, a true leader who served with fairness and integrity, which was why he enjoys the current massive support.
The former federal lawmaker added: “Under the state APC-led government, I see many people suffering, there is hardship everywhere, insecurity, pensioners are crying for help, and operating commercial motorcycle (Okada) is the only white collar job in the state.
“I’m not happy with the current situation in the state. For these and many other reasons, I joined SDP today to rescue the state from the hands of those who don’t feel anything about the wellbeing of the Ekiti people.
Meanwhile, Oni has promised the people of the state a robust security of lives and property, with an ultimate goal of zero-crime rate in Ekiti State if elected governor in the June 18 governorship election.
Oni stated this when a group of farmers in the state paid him a solidarity visit at Ifaki-Ekiti last weekend and pledged to support him to win the governorship election.
In a statement made available by the spokesman of Ekiti Build Back Better (EBBB), a pro-Segun Oni group, Idowu
Adelusi, to journalists in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, the leaders of the farmers, Chiefs Timothy Orilogbon and Babatunde Ilori, said the purpose of their visit was to get his promises to tackle insecurity which had driven them away from their farms.
Responding, Oni said he would put a stop to insecurity bedevilling the state, “even though Governor Kayode Fayemi, with his doctorate in War Studies failed woefully to tackle the problem.
“I can assure everybody living in this state of a new dawn if I am elected as the governor on June 18. A new dawn implies freedom for everybody to go about their lawful duties, freedom for the farmers to go about their farming activities without being attacked by killer herdsmen.
“No longer will criminals come to kill you on your farms or destroy your crops or rape your wives and daughters. When I said something, I mean it; I will put a stop to the nonsense.”
To achieve this, Oni promised to centralise the intelligence security control system, and apply local-intercommunity security such as the Amotekun and other local innovations.
