Olujimi: PDP may lose Ekiti 2022 governorship poll if…

By Rasaq Ibrahim, Ado-Ekiti

Former Minority leader, Senator Biodun Olujimi, has warned the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State may not be able to win the governorship election in 2022 if the party’s national leadership fails to reconcile contending groups in the chapter.

Olujimi said PDP has no luxury of time as political parties participating in the election ought to have conducted primaries to pick candidate by March 2022.

She stressed unless the Prince Uche Secondus-led PDP National Working Committee (NWC) commences genuine process of reconciliation, any attempt to delay further might spell doom for the party in the forthcoming governorship election.

She spoke on Sunday in Omuo-Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti East Council area, while commissioning blocks of classrooms and distributing fertilizers and herbicides to farmers in Ekiti South.

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Olujimi, in a statement in Ado-Ekiti, urged the party national leadership to take urgent steps to reconcile all contending groups in the state chapter or forget reclaiming Ekiti from the ruling All Progressive Congress in 2022

The Ekiti South Senator however cautioned former Governor Ayodele Fayose against placing curses on perceived opponent of his anointed candidate, Mr Bisi Kolawole, saying such action was not only unacceptable but condemnable.

She said that leaders in Ekiti ought to preach peace, love and reconciliation because winning elections require the support of all party men and women.

“There is no doubt that time is running out for PDP in Ekiti. I believe that we should explore peaceful avenue before we embark on any extraneous steps.

“The party leadership must sit down and look at all the issues and resolve amicably. Failure to do so will not be palatable for the party and I am sure the party is aware of this.

“If they don’t do that the party may not be able to focus on the task ahead and we don’t want the PDP to be out of the picture in 2022. What is on ground if not well resolved, can take the PDP out of the 2022 calculation. And we need to guide against it.”

Cautioning Fayose against extreme positions, Olujimi said: ”For me, this is unacceptable. You can’t curse any one because the business of politics needs peace and friendship. Let us even agree without conceding that his candidate emerges, will he not need the support of those he has cursed.

“The language of leadership should be peace, love and reconciliation, because political parties operate open door policy. In other words, you are free to join and you are free to leave.

“This leadership that we laid claims to cannot be conferred by us. It is the people that will confer it on us. That is why we need to always respect our followers and consider them in decision making. In all of this only one person will be candidate and only one person will be governor. And it is only God that can anoint the person. So, in political participation, there should be decency.

“We have to be nice to each other and ensure that there is peace. I am sure that the former governor must have looked back and know that it was not proper and be ready to make amend,” she said.