FORMER executive chairman of Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye, has said that those who are opposed to zoning of political offices in the state, especially with regards state governorship, want to treat others as second class citizens.
Mr. Adeyeye made the case on Sunday while hosting leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at an end-of-the-year party in Ise Ekiti.
According to the politician, “zoning of political offices in the state is very much relevant and those opposing it are enemies of Ekiti.”
Mr. Adeyeye’s remarks followed comments by some people that zoning of political offices is unnecessary in the state and that such has been overtaken by events.
Adeyeye, who is aspiring for the governorship ticket of the PDP come 2014 election, stressed the need for Ekiti South Senatorial District to produce the next governor of the state.
“Even in the old Ondo State from where Ekiti was carved out, after late Pa Michael Ajasin spent his term in office and the military took over, the next governorship election was during the aborted Third Republic and all the governorship aspirants in the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC) were from the Ekiti axis,” he said.
“This was because people knew that for the sake of equity and fairness, the Ekiti people should produce the governor and it was so. Now, since the creation of Ekiti State and the advent of democratic rule, nobody from the South Senatorial District has governed the state. Does it mean there are no competent persons from the area? No. The area has six local governments while the other two districts have five LGs each. We must not create the impression that some people are inferior to the others.”
He however added that if the contest is thrown open to aspirants from every zone, he was sure of emerging victorious.
“We have been working underground. You know that party primaries are technical issues. It is people who are the delegates that can vote and as I am talking to you, we have control of 11 local governments out of the 16 in the state,” he said.
He stated since last July that he held a meeting with party leaders to intimate them of his ambition he had continued to network and strengthen his political structures across the state.
Adeyeye said some of the aspirants that have already come out to canvass support openly were only engaged in showmanship, saying real politicking was much more than that.
On the polarisation of the PDP to two main lines, the PDP stalwart said his campaign outfit, the Prince Adedayo Adeyeye Movement (PAAM) was championing reconciliation and unity in the party.
On the chances of his party defeating the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria, he said the days of the ACN were numbered in the state.
“We are sure of defeating the ACN flatly. The people of the state have seen the deceit in that party and the unfaithfulness of their leaders. The PDP is the party to beat in Ekiti State,” he opined.