The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship flag bearer in Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said his desire to return to power is to better the lives of the citizenry and not to seek revenge against any individual or group.
He said good governance, which gives priority to a better standard of living will return to the state when an APC government returns to power in October.
Fayemi said his victory at the APC governorship primary on Saturday has signalled the beginning of the battle to rescue the state from bad governance, poverty and desecration of Ekiti values allegedly wrecked on the people by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) administration.
He made the remarks in his acceptance speech after winning the APC governorship primaries, beating 31 other contestants at a keenly-contested battle for the party’s ticket at Damlek Event Centre, Oke Ila, Ado-Ekiti, Saturday night.
The politician was declared a winner by the Ekiti State APC Governorship Primary Electoral Committee Chairman, Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State.
Al-Makura, who commended all stakeholders for their contribution to the success of the primary election, handed Fayemi the Certificate of Return as the APC candidate for the July 14 poll, expressing optimism that the party would coast home to victory.
Making his speech after he was declared a winner, Fayemi, who was joined by fellow aspirants on the podium, allayed the fears of the people of the state that he is on a revenge mission on the electoral defeat he suffered in the June 21, 2014 election.
Fayemi also used the opportunity to apologize to all those offended by some policies his first administration executed, noting that his desire to seek Ekiti people’s votes again was hinged on an unfinished business to make their lives better.
The former governor urged party members and supporters to let go of all grievances in the course of the struggle for the governorship ticket and urged fellow party faithful to set aside differences and face the election as a united family.
He said: “Let me say this to Ekiti people who will wake up in the morning to hear the news of the result of my being the party’s gubernatorial candidate in the July 14 election, I want you, Ekiti people, to be rest assured that I am not on any vengeance mission.
“In accepting this onerous responsibility, I have a profound sense of unfinished business in making poverty history in this land.
“In the course of my previous service in this state, there are certain acts of omission and commission in our quest to rapidly develop our state.
“This is an opportunity to apologize to those who might have been offended by our policies and programmes. Together, we will take our state to greater heights.”
Fayemi hailed fellow aspirants for providing the stiff competition that enriched the race for the APC ticket, stressing that “all of them are eminently qualified to be governor of Ekiti State and will do better than characters presently at the helm.”
He announced that he was immediately setting up a Candidate Advisory Council, comprising all the co-aspirants to share experience, plan ahead and ensure victory for the party at the governorship poll.
His words, “In all electoral contests, tempers often rise and nerves are frayed. I therefore humbly appeal to all my supporters, and to my co-contestants and their supporters, to let go of past differences as we forge ahead to a new dawn.
“The first major step is the immediate setting up of the candidate advisory council, comprising all the co-aspirants.”
Fayemi said further: “But the battle has only just begun – the contest to reclaim our land and restore our values. The fight to ensure our great party comes out victorious in the July 14, 2018, general election.
“Without a doubt, Ekiti is in critical need of rescue. It is imperative that we urgently commence the task of purging ourselves of the bad reputation we have earned in recent years and restore good governance to the state.
“In my valedictory address in 2014, I said that future administrations would be judged by the standards we set during our time in office.
“It should be clear to any observer that over the past four years, Ekiti has retreated from the progressive values that we espoused in office and our grand ideals of human development.
“We have seen the entrenchment of the disdain for elders, traditional institutions, and all forms of constituted authorities.
“Instead of continuing the quest for freedom from ignorance, disease and want, what we have seen is a paradigm that deepens captivity to these ills.
“In short, the last four years has called into question all that we stand for as a people. The timeless values of honour, dignity, nobility and civility encapsulated in the Omoluabi ethos have been eroded.”
