Ekiti 2022: Zoning Will Be A Great Disservice To PDP – Segun Oni Warns

Ahead of the 2022 governorship election in Ekiti State, a former governor of the state, Chief Segun Oni, has warned the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against zoning the ticket, saying it would be a great disservice to the opposition party.

There have been calls from politicians of southern extraction in both PDP and the APC on the need for power to return to the zone that has not produced the governor since 1999.

Oni, who is from the northern senatorial district said the party should place priority on defeating the ruling All Progressives Congress in the June 18, 2021 poll, rather than the primordial and narrow sentiment of zoning.

The PDP governorship aspirant told the APC in clear terms that the party has lost the June 18, 2021 governorship election in Ekiti State, saying the voters have rejected the ruling party over its failure in the areas of security, employment generation and economy.

Oni who spoke in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on Tuesday, during an interactive session with newsmen on his mission to return to Ekiti government house in 2022, said zoning will do incalculable damage to PDP.

According to him, “When I was going in 2010, I said we should help the South to become governor. No governor had ever liked the South more than me. I gave key positions like the minister, secretary to the state government, commissioner for works to the south when I was governor.

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“Let me say this clearly, only a ruling party can zone governorship. But if you are in opposition, you should only think of who can take power. Let me thank Mr Ayodele Fayose, he had the luxury as a governor and he went for it, though we lost in 2018.

“Governor Kayode Fayemi, who is in power is the only one that can answer the zoning call now because he is in government. The PDP should think of who can win the election. We don’t want to be nice guys this time, but a good and determined opposition party.”

Oni expressed optimism that the PDP has a high possibility of winning the next year’s poll, saying the populace are already disillusioned with the APC reign, which he described as an abysmal failure.

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The former governor who branded the PDP as a bit more democratised than any other party in the country in the handling of primaries said nothing short of a free and fair primary will be acceptable to members to select a credible candidate for the impending governorship poll.

“Ekiti voters are ready for us, I mean ready to vote for us. No party can be lucky more than this. Our road to the government house is almost clear, people have been saying that to us. Though we have internal crises, we will resolve our differences, because we don’t want to play second fiddle again.

“We are not imposing consensus and whoever has the largest appeal should win the primary and get the ticket. That is our belief and that is what is going to happen,” he maintained.

The former governor described the insecurity in Ekiti, where people were being killed and kidnapped as very unfortunate, saying he would rise to the occasion and stem the tide if given the opportunity to serve as governor.

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