…defeats Adeyeye, as Olujimi withdraws
The Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Prof. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, on Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti, emerged as the governorship candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.
Olusola-Eleka had been endorsed as early as September, last year by Governor Ayodele Fayose, who described him as a loyal deputy and God’s chosen candidate.
In the predictable primary election, he defeated former Minister of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, scoring 1, 191 votes, while Adeyeye polled 770 in the primary election performed by 1,968 delegates. Seven votes were voided and the deputy governor thus emerged winner with 421 votes’ margin.
Shortly before voting started, the third aspirant in the race, Senator Abiodun Olujimi, withdrew for Senator Adeyeye, who had been her ally in the initial battle of claims that Fayose was going to influence the conduct of the primary election.
The exercise was, however, held peacefully as the delegates voted in turn, after which the votes were counted, with Adeyeye and his agent conceding victory to Olusola-Eleka.
However, this was in sharp contrast to last Saturday’s governorship primary election of opposition All Progressives Congress in Ado-Ekiti, which was disrupted by party thugs while voting was in progress.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, a day to the Ekiti PDP primary poll, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said the three aspirants, namely Olusola-Eleka, Adeyeye and Olujimi, had agreed to accept the outcome of the primaries and support whoever emerged as candidate.
He explained that all the 51 appointees of the state governor who contested as delegates for primaries and won at the ward level were dropped because they did not resign their appointments before contesting for delegate’s slot; all in a bid to uphold transparency.
He said the three aspirants in the race for the PDP ticket were happy with the arrangements for the primary, mainly because the national leadership of the party had been sticking to the rules and guidelines of the party.
“We want to assure you that there will be peace in Ekiti State. Our only concern is hoodlums from the other parties, but they will not have access to the venue,” he had said.
The state governorship primary election was conducted by a committee headed by the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, while the party chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, will preside over the appeal committee.
All other members of the National Working Committee are also members of the appeal committee, which would sit in Abuja on Thursday.