One of the gubernatorial hopefuls aggrieved in the January 27 All Progressives Congress (APC) primary in Ekiti state, Opeyemi Bamidelehe has sheathed his sword.
He said in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti on Friday that he was no longer interested in suing the party or the people over the result of the exercise.
Mr. Bamidele, the current senator representing the Ekiti Central Senate District, stated that he had to change his previous position after “critical stakeholders” intervened and asked him to reconsider.
Consequently, he said that he would no longer challenge the victory of the former Immediate Secretary of the State Government, Biodun Oyebanji, who emerged victorious in the primaries.
FILE PHOTO: APC flag waving over a crowd of party supporters during a rally
This, he stated, “was for the sake of unity and cohesion of the APC in the state.”
Mr. Bamidele explained that while he still harbored resentment over the primaries, he would not seek redress in court or defect from the APC.
He, however, still described the exercise as a “farce, a farce and a blatant abrasion of the ethos of democracy”.
Mr. Bamidele, a former Information Commissioner in Lagos State and a former member of the House of Representatives, is currently Chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Legal Affairs Committee.
Shortly after the gubernatorial primary, he threatened to go to court to challenge the result.
Bamidele maintained that his latest action did not mean that he had given up the fight to right wrongs and make the party truly democratic.
“Despite my strong convictions expressed above, I have come to some irreversible conclusions.
“And these are the messages I need to get across to one and all today as I temporarily break my silence on the way forward.
“One is to say that I have chosen to abandon the option of going to court to sue the party.
“The other is to make it very clear to everyone that I and my supporters will not defect from APC.
“Details of the reasons that informed these choices will be communicated at a later date when my supporters and I address the people of Ekiti State. It’s not just about me.
“This is about the unity and progress of the Ekiti state and its politically undermined and economically distressed people.
“It is also about ensuring that the ground is not prepared for reactionary beneficiaries to take advantage of the apparent lack of capacity to manage our affairs as a ruling party,” he said.