The BAO Campaign Organisation has described as ridiculous the allegation by Segun Oni Campaign Organisation that Governor Kayode Fayemi had raised a task force to cause violence to aid the victory of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, in the June 18 governorship election in Ekiti State.
The campaign organisation said the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Segun Oni, is haunted by manic depression fuelled by pre-election hallucinations after failed bids to raise funds for campaign, even as supporters desert him daily to return to their former parties after realising that Oni stands no chance of winning the election.
Oni had in a statement signed by Ajayi Owoseni, a lawyer, alleged that Fayemi had raised a task force to disrupt polls by attacking his supporters to aid Oyebanji’s victory in the June 18 poll.
But a statement by the Deputy Director of Media and Publicity, BAO Campaign Organisation, Wole Olujobi, dismissed the allegation as the “hallucination of a dying man, who after poisoning himself, is crying blue murder, accusing the physician trying to help him survive”.
Olujobi said the allegation is ridiculous and unfortunate, particularly coming from the quarters that prided themselves as epitome of decency and symbol of honour and integrity.
“To say the least, this allegation is ridiculous and unfortunate coming from the quarters of a man that often assails Ekiti people with his exaggerated integrity, honour and decency, more so that a senior lawyer like Owoseni is part of the ridiculous script to falsely raise this scare to create sympathy, apprehension, confusion and fears in the minds of the people in the run up to the election.
“Governor Kayode Fayemi is renowned for peaceful conduct in the face of rank provocation as he exhibited between 2007 and 2010 when this same set of people in SDP used all violent means to deny Fayemi and Ekiti people the sanctity of the ballot, but Fayemi shunned violence; instead he relied on the Nigerian law and technology to retrieve his stolen mandate from Oni three and half years after violent usurpation.
“Unlike Fayemi, Oni has proven himself as an extremely desperate politician adept in spewing false claims and violent manipulations to achieve his political ends, as demonstrated and confirmed by the Appeal Court in the 2007 and 2009 rerun polls” Olujobi explained.
He added that instead of Oni to face the reality of failure, he started to malign the innocent Fayemi over fears of failure, including spewing lies to mislead the public.
“Oni reeled out imaginary names as arrowheads of alleged Fayemi’s violence machinery, falsely listing Adedeji Adesokan (Jarule) as the Commandant of the Peace Corps, even though Adesokan holds a different portfolio in government.
“Oni is also being haunted by his past when his party turned Ekiti to a cauldron of hell, unleashing horrendous violence on Ekiti people in the 2009 rerun during which several people were killed, including Ahmed Musa, while Segun Ajayi lost his leg in Ido-Osi when thugs imported by Oni’s party unleashed mayhem on Ekiti people in a desperate bit to violently seize power by all means and at all costs.
“Oni is apparently in dire fear of reprisal, thinking that APC will avenge the horrendous violence his party unleashed in 2007 and 2009 rerun, and that the June 18 election will be a pay back time to avenge the atrocities perpetrated to violently deny Fayemi his victory in the 2007 and 2009 rerun polls.
“But it is generally known that Fayemi is a peaceful man who also has a forgiving spirit and he is never known to pursue any violent agenda. In his speeches so far as he criss-crosses the nation ahead of the presidential primaries, he preaches peace and security, and so he is not a man to be bugged down by desperation to win election at all costs through violence,” Olujobi explained.
He added that Ekiti people were aware of the paucity of funds for Oni’s campaign over which many of his supporters deserted him and returned to their former parties after realising that they had been deceived into believing that super rich sponsors were behind Oni’s bid to be elected governor.
“Instead of throwing in the towel and drop out of the race after his purported sponsors refused to waste their money on an ill-fated project, Oni is misleading Ekiti people and Nigerians that Fayemi is assembling thugs against him to attract undeserved sympathies.
“Ekiti people have become wiser. They believe in continuity of good governance that has elevated Lagos as a model of development in Africa.
“Ekiti people are tired of abandoned projects that hallmarked Oni’s illegal administration between 2007 and 2009. Workers faced hell, including plan to sack 2, 000 local government workers through Oni’s Captain Consult report, but these workers were saved by Fayemi after retrieving his mandate in 2010.
“Several workers died in road accidents over Oni’s unwarranted and wicked demands for primary school certificates 25 years after these workers left school and so they cannot risk putting their destinies in the hands of desperate politicians that hold power without understanding the responsibilities of leadership,” he said.
He said Fayemi and APC would rely on the Nigerian law and peaceful conduct, including Fayemi’s laudable achievements so far, to win the election and no amount of blackmail, deceits and lies will move Ekiti people from the track of development in Ekiti State, which could only be sustained by Oyebanji’s victory at polls on June 18, 2022.
Signed:
Wole Olujobi,
Deputy Director, Media and Publicity,
BAO Campaign Organisation
May 17, 2022