Following the results of the elections, Wole Oluyede, the African Democratic Congress’ candidate for governor of Ekiti State on Saturday, expressed sorrow for entering politics on Wednesday.
Doctor Oluyede, who is living in Australia, also said he had given up on the Ekiti State election.
Oluyede said, “I am not going to run again because I think any contest now is for the highest bidder and I won’t waste my time and energy”.
The ADC candidate, who came fourth in the election, said that he deliberately refused to buy votes in Saturday’s election, adding, “I have lost hope in the entire process in the state, it is a tragedy. I didn’t buy votes of Ekiti people deliberately.
“I can’t use my hard-earned resources to run around talking to people on why I should be elected and I will still need to buy people, security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission. It appears politics here does not mean the best will emerge,” he said.
Oluyede declared that he will not contest the election’s results in court, claiming that doing so would be a waste of time given that the security agencies and electoral umpire were allegedly taken over by vote-buyers, making it simple and hassle-free to entice voters.
He said, “Ekiti people have chosen the leader they want by collecting money to vote and they should not complain of lacking basic and social amenities in the future. The problem Ekiti has now is that the people are poor and that was why they could buy their conscience. That was what All Progressives Congress used in gaining the heart of many people.
“More worrisome is the fact that the people do not want a solution to the problem of poverty. That was why even when we came with an agenda to address the poverty confronting them, they still expected us to buy their votes before we could help them. The winner is not the best, but he is the one the people deserved.
“It was consensual. Nobody can say that the inducement was forced on them. Personally, I have learned a new lesson about Ekiti. If I had known, I would not have become a politician, much more contest for election.”
Defending Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is running for president of the APC, Oluyede stated, “I have not met Tinubu since 2018. I used my hard-earned money to run my political campaigns. I was a member of the South West Agenda for Tinubu 2023 team, which aided in his selection as the APC’s nominee for president. I contributed money to SWAGA.
However, APC governorship candidate and newly elected governor Biodun Oyebanji cleared himself and the party of any involvement in vote-buying, asserting that the party’s success in the election was based on the public’s confidence in it as a result of his manifesto and Governor Kayode Fayemi’s outstanding performance in office.
