The governorship candidate of African Democratic Congress in
Saturday’s Ekiti State governorship election, Wole Oluyede, on Wednesday
expressed regret for joining politics, following the turn of events in the
poll.
Oluyede, an Australia-based medical doctor, who said he had
lost hope in the electoral process in Ekiti State, said, “I am not going to run
again because I think any contest now is for the highest bidder and I won’t
waste my time and energy”.
The ADC candidate, who came fourth in the election, said
that he deliberately refused to buy votes in Saturday’s election, adding, “I
have lost hope in the entire process in the state, it is a tragedy. I didn’t
buy votes of Ekiti people deliberately.
“I can’t use my hard-earned resources to run around talking
to people on why I should be elected and I will still need to buy people,
security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission. It appears
politics here does not mean the best will emerge,” he said.
Oluyede said he would not challenge in court the outcome of
the election which he said was highly monetised, saying such would amount to
time wasting as he alleged that the entire election process including the
electoral umpire and security agencies were hijacked by vote-buyers thus making
it easy to induce voters without any hindrance.
He said, “Ekiti people have chosen the leader they want by
collecting money to vote and they should not complain of lacking basic and
social amenities in the future. The problem Ekiti has now is that the people
are poor and that was why they could buy their conscience. That was what All
Progressives Congress used in gaining the heart of many people.
“More worrisome is the fact that the people do not want a
solution to the problem of poverty. That was why even when we came with an
agenda to address the poverty confronting them, they still expected us to buy
their votes before we could help them. The winner is not the best, but he is
the one the people deserved.
“It was consensual. Nobody can say that the inducement was
forced on them. Personally, I have learned a new lesson about Ekiti. If I had
known, I would not have become a politician, much more contest for election.”
Oluyede, who denied insinuations that APC presidential
candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, bankrolled his campaign, said, “I have not seen
Tinubu since 2018. I ran my political activities with my hard earned fund. I
was part of the South West Agenda for Tinubu 2023 team that supported his
emergence as APC presidential candidate. I gave financial support to SWAGA”.
However, APC governorship candidate and governor-elect,
Biodun Oyebanji, had exonerated himself and APC from vote-buying, saying
victory in the election was based on people’s trust for the party following his
manifesto and Governor Kayode Fayemi’s impressive performance in office.
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