By Toyin Anisulowo, Ado-Ekiti
An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Ekiti state, Mr Kola Alabi, has declared that the large number of aspirants contesting for the governorship slot would be an impetus to win rather than an impediment to win the poll in 2018
Alabi said he aligns with the idea of zoning the governorship ticket to the southern part of the state, where he hails from but insisted that to prevent an implosion, the party must also respect the rights of other contestants from other zones.
The APC governorship aspirant urged aspirants from the South to show consideration and engage their counterparts from the Central and Northern zones rather than try to browbeat the party to embrace zoning that was not entrenched in the its constitution.
The party presently has about 35 aspirants from across the three senatorial districts, who have indicated interests in the plum seat.
Alab however pointed out that he remained the best among the contestants in terms of age,
experience and party discipline.
“People are expressing anxiety that the close to 40 aspirants that we have had could cause internal wrangling and jeopardize our chances in 2018. Democracy and most importantly party politics is about interest and the people. So, the good number of people that had indicated interests shows that democracy is thriving in APC.
“Before now, when some few leaders had interest in an aspirant in any political party, no other aspirant could be bold to come out because that may mark the end of his or her political career.
“But today, things have changed, particularly in APC. Every member has the unrestricted right to contest for any political position provided you are qualified based on constitutional provisions. This signposts that you need no godfather to contest any elective position in APC”,
he said.
Alabi promises to focus on education and agriculture if elected governor, saying the state has comparative advantages in the two sectors since the Western Region days in the first republic.
