A former President of the Nigeria Medical Association, Prof Dayo Faduyile, has said he would be the candidate of the All Progressives Congress for governorship coming up in November this year.
As the primary of the party would be held in April, Faduyile said he was prepared to change the fortune of the state when elected the governor.
He stated this in Akure, the state capital on Friday at a meeting with party members and his supporters.
He also noted that the incumbent governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who is also a governorship aspirant of the party, was not a threat to his (Faduyile) chance of getting the ticket of the party.
He said, “I contested in 2020 against the incumbent then. So it is not a new thing for me to contest against an incumbent. But in 2020, I collapsed my structure with the then incumbent (Rotimi Akeredolu). The only superior argument that made me do that was because of the agreement on zoning in the state. For every other reason, I was adamant.
“Now it is the turn of the southern senatorial district by providence or otherwise, the governor is no more, and the deputy has now become the governor, and he is from the south. The question is, should I just bury my interest or ambition? The answer is that if you are very confident in what you want to say to change the narrative, you will still contest it. Even when Aketi was contesting, I still contested against him.
“To face an incumbent governor, you have to put in more effort. I want to also wish my brother, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, luck in his campaign, but look at us together; I’m better than him in many ramifications.”
Speaking on the possible imposition of a candidate ahead of the primary, the medical doctor and politician said he did not fear of imposition of a candidate, expressing assurance that whatever method used by the party to pick candidate, he would be favoured.
“If our party now says this is the person they have picked and it is not me, that I’ll go to another party or go and disrupt the process, the thing is, while you are planning your own, you look at the positive side.
“The second one is for you to be picked either by ballot, consensus, or imposition, but it is left for you to elect yourself, and this is what I’m doing, but I know God is on my side; if it is by direct delegate, I’ll emerge. And if it is by imposition, that imposition will be Professor Dayo Faduyile.
“The leadership of the party can choose any mode of primaries. I have seen cases in which consensus has been reached and the results have been satisfactory to the members of the party. I have had the opportunity to see where indirect primaries have been used in the same way as direct primaries.
“Whichever one the leadership of the party wishes to use, anybody who wants to aspire must be ready for any of those three, which are in the rules of the APC, ” the APC stated.
Faduyile promised that if elected as governor of the state, he would revamp the education, health and economic sectors as well as the infrastructure of the state.
Aiyedatiwa was sworn in as the state governor following the death of the governor, Rotimi Akeredolu in December.
He was the deputy governor until December 13 when power was formally transferred to him after Akeredolu went on another medical vacation.
