Barely 24 hours after the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, won the state election, another governorship candidate of the party in the August 9 election in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has declared that he was prepared to take over the reign of power in the state.

Basking on the euphoria of Fayose’s victory, Omisore said the victory of Fayose at the weekend connotes a total rejection of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-west.

According to him, “We are taking over the government of Osun State in 49 days; I can assure you that by God’s grace, on August 10, we will have cause to celebrate.

“Obviously, you can go and see what is happening in that state now. There is total rejection of APC in my state. Today, APC has only been able to touch about five per cent of people’s lives.

“All you see on papers and televisions are not on ground. Bad roads everywhere, no water, no facility, nothing to show for it. Workers are not being paid, schools are closed, teachers and pensioners are not paid, retirees are not paid. So, there is a general consensus of exit of APC in Ekiti and Osun states for now and probably in South-west in the next few months more.”

On the victory of his party in Ekiti at the weekend, Omisore noted that the success of the election was made possible by the consciousness of security agents that were in control and arrested some suspected hoodlums.

He said both local foreign observers adjudged the election as freest and fairest so far in recent elections in Nigeria, but noted that was made possible because “about 1,500 APC thugs were arrested at different locations. That made it possible for us to have a very good election. Had it been that the security was not provided, there would have been confusion everywhere.”

Fayose’s victory in the Ekiti ballot has stunned the APC leadership, which was certain that their candidate and governor of the state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, would win by a comfortable margin.

The shocking defeat of Fayemi has forced the APC leadership, according to party sources, to go back to the drawing board to map out a strategy to ensure that APC does not lose Osun State on August 9.

On paper, Fayemi had everything going for him: The incumbency factor, his laudable stewardship as governor for four years and the fact that he belonged to APC which supposedly had the South-west geopolitical zone firmly in its grip. The election, by all estimates, was his to lose.

But that was not to be, as APC party sources have confided that they lacked the funds to effectively execute the election in Fayemi’s favour.

The source disclosed: “The truth is that APC ran out of resources to effectively execute the election on Saturday. It was not a case of Fayose being more popular than our candidate.

“We grossly underestimated the capacity of the PDP to upturn the tables against Fayemi and the fact the military stopped some of our governors who could have helped from entering the state during the final rally last week did not help matters either.”

However, it was not just APC chieftains and governors who were prevented from entering Ekiti State on the eve of the election. A source in the Presidency revealed that the Minister of State of Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, and Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Abdul Adesiyan, among other PDP chieftains, who were initially allowed entry into Ekiti by the military, were asked to leave before the election.

Having lost Ekiti, the APC leadership has turned its focus on Osun and has sworn to hold on to the state come August 9.

The Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, though popular and is considered more of a grassroots politician than Fayemi, the party will not leave anything to chance given Senator Iyiola Omisore’s strength in the state.

According to the APC chieftain, “What happened in Ekiti was a mistake. But I assure you that we will not be caught napping a second time around. If PDP is pounding its chest that it has made inroads into the South-west by capturing Ekiti, then its celebrations are premature as APC still has control over the most populous states in the region.”

But a PDP chieftain countered: “Let there be no doubt, the PDP has made its inroads into the South-west and we shall not stop at Ekiti as we have Osun and other states in our sights. We will keep changing strategy as we go along while APC continues to make the noise.”

•Pieced together from reports in THISDAY. Photo shows Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, whom PDP has vowed to also unseat on August 9.

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