A chieftain of African Democratic Party (ADC) and former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Canada, Amb. Dare Bejide has said that the opposition party is gaining ground because every politician wants a place where democracy flourishes.
Speaking in Ado-Ekiti while celebrating his 66th birth anniversary, Bejide ,a governorship aspirant of ADC said his former political party ,PDP has been hijacked by “bad boys ” while democracy had also taken a flight in the ruling APC.
Bejide , the pioneer PDP secretary in Ekiti and three times Secretary to Ekiti State Government warned against underrating the party, saying the party will spring surprises in future elections including 2026 governorship poll in Ekiti state.
“We have influx of people joining the party everyday. From the All Progressives Congress (APC), People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties, just wait and see. As far as I am concerned, when I win the ticket and the mandate of the party,.
“For instance, I was the pioneer secretary of the PDP in the state and the party presently has been hijacked by the ‘bad boys’ , so nobody want to wrestle with the ‘pig’, that was why we left. In APC too, democracy has taken a flight and so everybody wants to be at the place where democracy can flourish. And in ADC, we are going to conduct a transparent primary and I know other parties can’t do it because they will impose candidate on their people. Those that are aggrieved will come and we are talking to them”.
“Ambition in a way can split a party if there is no process. For instance, when a political party believes in imposition of candidates, then whoever is aggrieved would not be very happy. But once , there is a transparent process, both the winner and the loser will embrace each other . Because it is like they have fought a very good battle as winner and as loser. Must I am sure most party don’t behave that way and that is what is going to split them”.
Speaking on his plans for the state if elected government, he said his administration would pay attention to youths and women.
“We have larger population of women and the youth, so, if a government does not reckon with them, it shows that the government is not in touch with the reality of the situation on ground. If elected, I would pay more attention to their development, provide an enabling environment for them to flourish. For the youths, I would make farming more attractive to them . It will no longer be a manual thing but mechanized agriculture.We akso also establish skill acquisition centres in all the three Senatorial districts of the state and ensure that our artisans are retrained at no cost. The mechanics, vulcanizers bricklayers and others .
“There would be lots of appointments for women in our cabinet, even far more that 34 percent affirmative action and improve on the state infrastructure by addressing deplorable state of roads in the state”.
“I believe I can still make some contributions towards the development of Ekiti state and Nigeria at large. That is why I am coming out once again to contest for the governorship position of this state and I believe by the grace of God, this time around, it is going to be different”.
Also, speaking a stalwart of the party, Chief Segun Akinwumi stated that ADC in the state is working out modalities to ensure they come out victorious at the 2026 governorship poll in the state.
“The first thing where doing is to get credible platform which we have gotten now , that is ADC. Followed by credible candidate. Ekiti people are disenchanted with the present government. As things are now, in another two months’ time everyone will know that ADC is out for real thing. Ambassador Bejide that we are trying to bring up now has all that it takes to be governor of this state”.