– says Ekiti is different from Osun
Eight days to the Governorship election in Osun State, veteran broadcaster and a national leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Dr Yemi Farounbi, has expressed confidence on his party’s candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, winning the September 22 governorship election.
In an interview with Nigerian Tribune, in Osogbo, Farounbi, playing down the possibility of a repeat of the Ekiti State situation which was reportedly heavily monetised and its victory allegedly given to the highest bidder, said: “Osun is different from Ekiti, and the situations are different, we won’t allow vote buying, since Omisore is the winning candidate.”
According to him, “it was the unpopularity of both candidates in Ekiti that led to the collection of money by the people to vote. The governor had lost his goodwill and the one who won had no goodwill. They were both buying goodwill.”
He said the situation was tempting to the people, likening it to a situation he said was “like when you pray, lead us not into temptation. The voters were led into temptation by the politicians, it was the politicians that have lost goodwill that opted to buy it.
Farounbi said, “I don’t believe the situation in Osun State is going to be like that. Yes, there are parties who have lost their goodwill, but what we see from the response we got from the public based on the behind the rally check we made, we know that SDP has lost no goodwill, rather, we are building our goodwill every day, it is increasing.”
He said of all the candidates, Omisore is the most experienced being a former deputy governor in the state and a former chairman of the appropriation committee in the Senate.
Likewise, Farounbi said, Omisore as a consultant to global financial instructions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, coupled with being an experienced engineer, Omisore had built enough capacity to develop Osun State and free them from the “bondage the ruling APC government has put the people into.”
Farounbi who was the SDP State chairman between 1991 and 1992 when the party won the governorship election in the State, said the party was used to victory as “the people are already used to voting for the horse which is the symbol of the party.”
He said, “the chances of the SDP winning are the brightest, not because I’m leading the campaign, but because I go to every campaign, one as a politician and secondly as a social scientist.
There are things you take cognizance of in a campaign, not the turn out at rallies alone that you look at, you look at the response of those not at the campaign venue when you are passing by, you look at their response to your team, their reaction, whether they are responsive or they are just looking at you with contempt. As a social scientist, I know SDP chances are the brightest.”
However, he said the party had learnt from the 2014 experience when Omisore contested on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), at a time he said he was robbed of victory, which he said was proven when the party filed its case at the tribunal.
Then, while sorting out the ballot papers, Farounbi said, ballot sheets from Lagos State were found in Osogbo, likewise he said there were several mix ups with ballot sheets not belonging to a particular local government found in different places.
“But now, we have learnt from the last experience, then, there was a weakness in our agents, if they were vigorous they would have seen all these things, that is why we have taken the time to train our agents now, and the people can be sure there won’t be a repeat of what happened in 2014.”
We have a candidate that no matter what you think about him, he is much experienced than others. He is an engineer with experience, a builder who is ready to restore Osun State, fix our schools, supply drugs to hospitals, repair roads and generally make Osun State the pride of all,” Farounbi said.
Nigerian Tribune
