The Labour Party governorship candidate and member of the House of
Representatives in Ekiti State, Mr Opeyemi Bamidele, has called for
sanctions against parties that contravened the electoral law and the
principle of issue-based campaign in preparation for the June 21
governorship election in the state.
Bamidele, who is also the chairman, House Committee on Legislative
Budget and Research, said the chairman of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, should take
punitive step against parties found to be unruly, to douse what he
described as “the raging tension in the polity.”
Bamidele, who gave the advice in a statement made available to
newsmen in Ado Ekiti, on Sunday, by his campaign organisation said “INEC
as the regulatory body on election process should not wait until the
people are killed in daylight by desperate politicians before it starts
imposing
sanctions to curb all these mind-boggling excesses.”
Bamidele expressed regret over what he termed “desperation being
nakedly displayed by members of some parties in their quest to win the
forthcoming election,” and urged INEC “to put the interest of the state
at heart above their selfish and narrow interest.”
He said it was “so disheartening that these parties, who had pledged
to make their campaigns issue-based, have quickly reneged on their
promises,” saying “this is evidence that such people cannot be trusted
in government.”
According to him, “the LP has been conducting itself according to the
dictates of the law in its campaign across the state, even in the face
of provocation and attack from the ruling All Progressives Congress
(APC),” saying “several of my supporters have been intimidated, harassed
and became objects of attack since the commencement of my
electioneering campaign on March 23.”
He, however, gave the assurance that “this will not coerce the LP to betray the confidence reposed in it by the electorate.”
He said “we in the Labour Party find it so difficult to believe that
some parties have quickly derailed from their promises to make the
campaigns issue-based and agenda- driven. Some of the parties no longer
campaign on what they would do for the people, but take pleasure in
character assassination.
“At campaign rallies, what the people are being made to hear were
pouring of invectives on perceived opponents. They no longer tell the
people what they have in the pipeline for them if elected. Little wonder
there had been accusations and counter-accusations flying out from
different directions that parties were being attacked.
“INEC cannot afford to fold its arms to all these shenanigans playing
out in the polity, else, the situation may escalate uncontrollably.”
INEC
would have to invoke the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act to
put all the politicians at check for this election to be free, fair and
devoid of bloodshed.
Fayemi scores administration high on healthcare delivery
Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has scored his administration
high in the provision of qualitative and affordable healthcare.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti, while kicking off the April 2014 National
Immunisation Plus Days (NIPDs), Dr Fayemi noted that vital health
statistics had been upward looking since the advent of his
administration in October, 2010.
The governor, who spoke through his deputy, Professor Modupe Adelabu,
said that the healthcare delivery agenda of his administration was
particularly focused on the vulnerable group, including pregnant women,
children of 0 to five years, elderly and the physically challenged.
He
explained that offering health protection to pregnant women and
children was aimed at securing the future while catering for the elderly
would protect the heroes that had contributed to the development of the
society.
Reiterating his commitment to the sustenance of all the maternal and
child health programmes, Fayemi solicited the continued support of all
stakeholders for the programmes in order to achieve the desired goals.
According to him, his administration’s programmes were designed to
involve community ownership of health institutions in the state, adding
that Community Health Committees had been set up to drive the process
and sustain the feedback mechanism.
He urged parents, guardians and other stakeholders not to handle the
issue of immunisation with levity, stressing that the future of children
not protected against the deadly diseases could not be guaranteed.
The governor listed the diseases targeted by the current round of
immunisation to include polio, tuberculosis, measles, yellow fever and
pneumonia, which he said, were the leading causes of child morbidity and
mortality.
Commending the dedication of Health workers in the state as well as
the cooperation of parents and other stakeholders which led to the 99
per cent coverage recorded in the first round of the NIPDs in March
2014, Governor Fayemi assured that arrangement had been made to ensure
100per cent coverage in the current round of the programme, stressing
that anything less was unacceptable.
In his remarks, the state
Commissioner for Health, Professor Olusola Fasubaa, who was represented
by the Permanent Secretary in the
Primary HealthCare Agency, Mrs Folake Falore, said that in spite of
the huge success recorded in the last exercise, the state government
would not relax until the safety of all children in the state was
guaranteed.
Professor Fasubaa highlighted strategies adopted for the
exercise to include fixed posts, house-to-house as well as transit and
temporary fixed posts such as markets, churches and mosques.
He urged parents to make their children available for the programme, stressing that the vaccines were free and safe.
I’ll not shed blood to be Ekiti gov —Bamidele
'The Labour Party governorship candidate in the 2014 election in
Ekiti State, Honourable Opeyemi Bamidele, at the weekend, declared that
he would not shed blood to be the governor of the state, saying that, he
believed that its only God that gives power.
To this end, he said that he decided to join the governorship race to
bring development to the state, noting that Ekiti State had suffered
enough since its creation 17 years ago.
Honourable Bamidele stated this while speaking with newsmen in Abuja,
adding that “I have the cognate experience to govern Ekiti State,”
saying that having served as commissioner for 12 years in Lagos State
under Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Mr Raji Fasola, and now a member of
the House, it was imperative for him to vie for the governorship
position in Ekiti state.
Speaking further, he said, “if we could be part of those people that
made Lagos State what it is today, I don’t think there is any problem
about that. My people too need development but since they do not want
me to achieve my aspiration in the All Progressives Congress, I had to
move to Labour Party, some saw it as an affront and there was a serious
gang -up against me.”
He added that “Ekiti State needs another government, it is a
fundamental problem, the state needs leadership that is inclusive. I
will be an unusual governor. I will work with stakeholders to galvanise
the academic people in the state to take it to a level that we all
desire.”
Honourable Bamidele, who said that he would soon unveil his
blueprint, said “I have said it that I will not be violent in my
campaign and I will not shed blood.”
He also promised to improve the standard of living of people in the
state, saying befitting houses and potable water would be provided for
the people of the state.
He further noted that, “we will do everything to ensure that the
state is not left behind. Information Technology is key to any
development therefore, it is very paramount now. I will distribute
laptop to students as part of learning materials and also expose
students to the importance of Information Technology.”
I’ll not join issues with my opponents —Fayose
Ahead the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State, the
candidate of the of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the
election, Mr Ayodele Fayose, at the weekend, said that he would not
join issues with his political opponents but join hands with all party
members in order to win the state for the party.
Fayose, a former governor of the state, who spoke with newsmen in
Abuja, after a peace meeting with the 12 former aspirants and the
leadership of the party, challenged his critics, who were currently
accusing him of corruption and other sundry vices while in office, to
come forward with fresh allegations because the old ones against him had
been sufficiently addressed.
He said that his critics would go to any length to distract his
attention ahead the election so as to humiliate him and the party but
with God and the people of Ekiti on his side, he would be victorious at
the poll.
According to him “I have vowed not to join any issue with anyone on
any matter between now and of June 21,2014. My intention is to
concentrate on our campaigns and ensure that we do not only win the
election but that we win well.
“If it is this same old news of blackmail against my person, I will
not join issues with them. If it is the issue of he is facing the EFCC;
he’s a killer and all that, I’ll not join issues with them,” he vowed.
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