A former House of Representatives member, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, has formally declared his intention to contest the July 14 governorship race in Ekiti State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC)
Bamidele popularly known as MOB declared today, Wednesday at the State Party Secretariat in Ado Ekiti.
Bamidele, a native of Iyin-Ekiti in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state and the local government producing the two governors; Adeniyi Adebayo and Ayodele Fayose.
Bamidele said APC leaders must field an experienced person to fly the party’s flag for the governorship election, so as not to fall into the trap of poor performance when elected.
The former Lagos commissioner described himself as “a thorough-bred technocrat, who has traversed every arm of government as a commissioner, a federal parliamentarian and lawyer, who was well-groomed for the coveted seat.”
On the occasion, Bamidele also unveiled the blueprint he dubbed: “Manifesto of Brighter Future for Ekiti”, which he said encapsulated his mission and vision for the state.
Unveiling the contents of the manifesto, Bamidele stated that the blueprint consisted of programmes that would proffer solutions to the socio-economic problems pummeling the state due to bad governance brought to the fore by the present government.
“With what is happening today in Ekiti, it was clear and evident that the state is in pain and in dire need of a leader that has a scientific understanding of what governance is all about to redirect us to the path of a sustainable and viable Ekiti.
“I understand governance and I know that there are three arms which are: Executive, Judiciary and legislature. I have garnered experiences in all the facets and I have grown through the gamut to reach where I am today.
“In the executive arm, I served for 11 years in the government of Lagos State as Special Adviser and Commissioner and our records are there. I was elected as a member of House of Representatives in 2011 and this imbued me with deep knowledge of the legislature. And as a lawyer, I have practiced as a Minister in the temple of justice for 26 years.
“I have executed programmes of government, I have made laws for the nation and I have helped in building a virile judicial arm, these make me a complete person and I can proudly say that I am the best for the job for no governor in the history of Ekiti had ever got this experience before election”.
Elaborating more on the manifesto, Bamidele said he was the first aspirant to unveil his blueprint for Ekiti before formal declaration, describing this as not only outstanding but novel in the state’s
political trajectory since the advent of democracy in 1999.
Assuring that the blueprint was scientifically structured to meet to Ekiti needs, Bamidele said: “Our projection is to make Ekiti the food basket of our dear nation because we have good soil and climatic conditions that favourably put us in a good stead to feed our nation.
“In this blueprint, we have ways to harness our mineral deposits in all parts of Ekiti, we have programmes for civil servants, teachers, aged people, youth and social development, Sports Development that explained vividly how sports has become a science, robust health programmes and conscious human capital development schemes to make Ekiti great.
“I am a lawyer with a network of people both locally and internationally ― I have them across the globe. I will bring all these to the to the disposal of Ekiti people,” he added.
