Fayose remains candidate to beat —PDP chief

A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Ekiti State, Mr Opeyemi Falegan, has described the party’s candidate in the Saturday’s governorship election in the state, Mr Ayo Fayose, as the candidate to beat and peoples’ choice. Falegan, in a statement made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Monday, said “the acceptability of Fayose among the people was borne out of the need for a genuine change in the leadership of the state.” According to the United Kingdom-based politician, “the PDP candidate is a true and needed change that the people have been yearning for, especially at transforming the state in order to improve its economy and infrastructure for a modern and virile Ekiti.” The PDP stalwart commended the party faithful, especially the aspirants who contested the PDP primary with Fayose for accepting the outcome of the exercise with the spirit of sportsmanship, saying the development had made the party to continue waxing stronger. According to him, the maturity displayed before, during and after the PDP primary election by all stakeholders is commendedable, exceptional and good omen for our democracy, the development had greatly boost the chances of the PDP, at winning in a vast merging in the forthcoming poll. The U.K-based politician expressed optimism in the ability and potential of Fayose to rebuild the state to rank among the best in the country and sub-Saharan Africa region. “Mr. Ayo Fayose has once been tested and performed wonderfully well, even beyond cynics’ imagination so the idea of whether he will perform or not is irrellevant and unnecessary now, because his records and antecedents as a great transformer during his first term as a governor of the state had already made him more popular than other candidates vying for the same position. Chief Ojo Falegan, however, called on other candidates of different parties in the contest to see the election as a game of testing popularity rather than political war, adding that, Ekiti people know what they really want this time around and they will not succumb to deciet and propaganda of any politician that maybe trying to lure them to sell their future because of a pot of porridge. Falegan called on the electorate to see the election as a liberating game from oppressors, opportunists and political gangsters who only came to Ekiti to enrich themselves at the detriment of the common people who are paying the taxes through their hard-earned funds. He, however, used the forum to charge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to play unbaised and neutral roles before, during and after the poll, saying what matter to Ekiti people now is free, fair and credible poll that will be a clear departure from the previous ones.