The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress in Saturday’s Ekiti State governorship election, Wole Oluyede, on Wednesday expressed regret for joining politics, following the turn of events in the poll.

Oluyede, an Australia-based medical doctor, who said he had lost hope in the electoral process in Ekiti State, 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 said he would not challenge in court the outcome of the election which he said was highly monetised, saying such would amount to time wasting as he alleged that the entire election process including the electoral umpire and security agencies were hijacked by vote-buyers thus making it easy to induce voters without any hindrance.

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.”

Oluyede, who denied insinuations that APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, bankrolled his campaign, said, “I have not seen Tinubu since 2018. I ran my political activities with my hard earned fund. I was part of the South West Agenda for Tinubu 2023 team that supported his emergence as APC presidential candidate. I gave financial support to SWAGA”.

However, APC governorship candidate and governor-elect, Biodun Oyebanji, had exonerated himself and APC from vote-buying, saying victory in the election was based on people’s trust for the party following his manifesto and Governor Kayode Fayemi’s impressive performance in office. (The PUNCH)