The Social Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in Ekiti State, Mr Akin Ayegbusi, says he remains confident that he would emerge victorious in the July election.
Ayegbusi, who spoke in Abuja on Thursday, said projections from his interactions with the grassroots shows he has a better chance of winning in spite of the presumed popularity of the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prof. Kolapo Olusola Eleka and that of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.
The 44-year-old Investment Banker explained that his forays into politics were informed by the contradictions in the management of the state’s human resource capital, especially the youth who have been rendered idle by government’s unsustainable policies.
He said, if elected, he would add vigour to governance and engage the youths and all other citizens meaningfully invocations that would develop the state in sectors such as agriculture and industrial development, health, tourism, welfare and poverty alleviation.
Describing himself as the David that is poised to defeat the political Goliaths in Ekiti, Ayegbusi said he would tap into his experience in the banking sector to bring sustainable programmes and funds to the state.
“When you speak of the political influence of Fayose and Fayemi, I think they are both dead on arrival. The people of Ekiti are tired of seeing the same set of leaders. The general feeling is that they have seen PDP and APC for many years and they want a fresh face. We have been having intra and inter party affiliations and I remain the best alternative in the present situation. For every Goliath, there is a David that will bring him down.
“Ekiti people are tired of politics of gangsters and stomach infrastructure. Even playing the religious card would not help Fayose because Ekiti State is homogenous. I have been getting a lot of support as the youth are keying into my campaign to re-orientate them to take their destinies into their hands instead of being as political thugs,” he said.
Ayegbusi, while vowing to change the narrative of Ekiti State as a Fountain of Knowledge, but without any notable industrial zones apart from producing teachers and professors, said he has developed a model that would bring a high-end investor to the state for sustainable development.
Highlighting his vision and mission, he said it would include, among others, the need to “lead a people-oriented and goal-getting government that will restore Ekiti’s dignity, rich socio-cultural and political values and hopes by ensuring, engender equitable distribution of the hard-earned dividends of Nigeria’s nascent democracy; Rejuvenate and strengthen the state’s emaciating economic potentialities and lift Ekiti state to an enviable platform in the comity of the states in the country.”
