Businessman, Mr Yemi Aiyegbusi, has emerged as the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for the Ekiti state governorship election scheduled to hold on July 14, 2018.
Aiyegbusi was announced as the winner after polling 16,921 as against his contenders, Dare Bejide who polled 14, 783 votes and Lamide Oni who had 4,252.
Being a new entrant in politics, Aiyegbusi highlighted the need for others to join hands with him to develop the state.
“I did my home work very well and interacted with all party members while my rivals perhaps relied on their popularity and political influence. But this is a victory for us all and I enjoin them to come and let’s work together to get this state developed,” he said
Meanwhile, his closest rival Abejide, alleged that the votes brought from Oye Local Government was manipulated to favour Aiyegbusi.
He also accused some key officials of conniving to perpetuate the rigging.
“I was already leading by 3,007 votes before they brought the result from two local governments, and in the process power supply went off just because they wanted to manipulate the process. I will make my decision known in due course, but I am not pleased,” Bejide stated.
Unlike the approach adopted by other parties in conducting primaries, the SDP did not use delegates for its primaries.
Rather, all members of the party voted for the candidate of their choice and subsequently, the election held at the various wards.
The SDP held its primary two days after the incumbent Deputy Governor of Ekiti, Professor Kolapo Olusola, won the PDP governorship primary.
After failing to pick a candidate for the race on Saturday last week as its primary ended in violence, the All Progressives Congress will take another shot at the primary on Saturday.
CHANNELS
