Ekiti Rebirth Organisation (ERO), the campaign group of leading aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Babafemi Ojudu, has described as “wicked lies from a tormented soul,” the statement by the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, alleging that Ojudu masterminded the crisis that marred the APC primary election in Ekiti on Saturday.

ERO Director General, Chief Ranti Adebisi, said that Fayemi’s statement was nothing but “another tantrum from Fayemi whose political fortune has taken a deep slide in recent times and whose entire campaign strategy was built on lies, orchestrated violence and cheap anti-democratic tricks.”

A statement signed by Fayemi’s Special Adviser on Media, Yinka Oyebode, alluded that Ojudu and another aspirant, Bimbo Daramola masterminded the violence and destruction of ballot boxes, having realised that the former governor was already in a clear lead in the four local councils that had cast their votes.

Adebisi, however, pointed out: “The entire incident that happened at the stadium was caught on camera and broadcast on National Television. We implore the security agents who made several arrests at the scene to make public the identities of the people arrested and their sponsors. I can tell you 100 percent that they have no link whatsoever to the Ojudu campaign.

Adebisi continued: “Fayemi has been the candidate threatening violence since he joined the race last month. He threatened to cripple the state if not given the party ticket. He deployed security agents to intimidate delegates even during the conduct of the primaries.

“He is the aspirant that has been avoiding democratic test of popularity, the chronology of events that culminated into the stampede at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, is known to the public, as some of them were also captured on camera. Those videos are everywhere on the social media for everybody to see.

“Clearly, if there is anyone desperate, that person is Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the stakes are high for him as a former governor who lost his seat wholesale and as wobbled as a serving Minister. It is his degree of desperation that has caused the latest show of shame in Ekiti.

“Ojudu has no reason whatsoever to want the voting disrupted since we were projected to win. But we are appealing to our delegates and supporters across the state to remain calm.

“Fayemi came late into this very contest to realise that the boat has left the shore. He is now looking for any straw to hang unto. He was shocked to realise that his much-advertised hold on the state executive was a fluke.

“He was shocked that Ojudu was coasting home with a landslide so he has to haphazardly change from one rigging strategy to the other but Ekiti people are not fools.

“We don’t support violence, our campaign does not use thugs. We don’t use self-help. However, Ekiti people have made the statement loud and clear that they no longer want Fayemi. We are sure of our support base. If this election is conducted ten times Ojudu will win,” Adebisi concluded.

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