The governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State has been concluded, with a former commissioner for environment Olabisi Kolawole emerging as governorship candidate.
Kolawole, who is backed by ex-governor Ayo Fayose, defeated another ex-governor Segun Oni and others in the election conducted on Wednesday in Ado-Ekiti.
The former commissioner polled 671 votes while Oni got 330 votes out of a total of 1,200 delegates that participated in the primary election.
A former member of the House of Representatives, Wale Aribisala, scored 56 votes, while former deputy governor of the state, Prof. Kolapo Eleka, got 93; Ayodele Kazeem scored six votes, and Kayode Adaramodu scored 10 votes.
Also, Adekemi Adewumi scored no vote; Lateef Ajijola got three and Senator Abiodun Olujimi got two votes. Olujimi had earlier announced she was withdrawing from the election.
Announcing the results of the exercise, chairman of the Ekiti State PDP governorship primary election committee and Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel, said: “Bisi Kolawole, having scored the highest number of votes cast in this election, is hereby declared the winner in accordance with the guidelines of our party.”
In his victory speech, Kolawole, an indigene of Efon in Ekiti Central senatorial district, commended the leadership of the party for providing a level playing ground for all aspirants.
He said, “Let me commend someone who is a good coach who discovered me. He must have seen something in me or read my antecedents. He is a wizard. I thank him for willingly giving me his endorsement making me the winner of this primary. The person is former governor Ayodele Fayose.
“Today, I want to say that we are all winners. Engineer Segun Oni is my brother and friend and I know that he will support this process. I want to commend other aspirants and appreciate them. Nobody can do it all alone.
“We are committed to delivering the people from sufferings being meted out to them in the last three years. You could all attest to the fact that the process of this election was free and fair. So, I willingly accept to be the flagbearer of our great party in the forthcoming governorship election in Ekiti.”
