Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji has called on the former governor of the state, Chief Segun Oni to return to the All Progressives Congress (APC) where he said the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate truly belongs.
The governor made the call yesterday when he visited Oni at his Ifaki-Ekiti residence.
The visit came barely one month after the Supreme Court decided the Ekiti governorship election in favour of Oyebanji.
The governor said returning to APC would give Oni the opportunity of joining in the race to reposition the state and join hands with the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to develop the country.
Oyebanji saluted the courage of the SDP candidate to challenge his victory at the state June 18, 2022 governorship poll, saying it was part of the electoral process.
“I am here to debunk the notion that you don’t return from court and become friends. I am here to greet my senior brother and my leader whom I have great respect for.”
“For me, I believe litigation is part of the electoral process and I appreciate His Excellency for pursuing the electoral matter up till the apex court and not resorting to self help.”, Oyebanji said.
“I am pleading with you sir, now that the party you suffered for, where you were deputy national chairman is now in the centre, I am too young to give you a directive but as one of your ardent followers, I want you to consider coming back home. Asiwaju Tinubu needs every good head, every good hand to succeed and he is from this zone of the country and when Segun Oni is not in the basket, the basket is not full.
“I’m pleading with you in the interest of our people, in the interest of the Yoruba nation, in the interest of Nigeria”.
Oni who said the meeting was the best he had attended this year in view of the sincerity of the Governor, stressed the need to build a virile Ekiti State based on unity of purpose because Ekiti was already left behind among a comity of states.
He said all hands should be on deck to reposition the state by making all communities, development centres to engender true development