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ON June 21, Ekiti State, which prides itself as the land of honour, will be having its governorship election. No doubt, the government of Ekiti State wants its people to be committed to ensure that the right person to handle the affairs of the state is elected. Hence, in its website, the Ekiti State government displays a slide that states: “The future of Ekiti is up to you. Without involvement, your declaration of commitment and loyalty is lip service.”

This must explain why the political gladiators in the state from different political parties have started laying out their strategies to convince the Ekiti people to be committed to their cause and vote them come June 21 when the governorship election will hold. In their bid to clinch the ticket to the government house, all the candidates who have emerged so far are throwing caution to the winds while intimidation, mudslinging, threats and name-calling are fast becoming the order of the day among them so much so that one begins to wonder whether the state is the land of honour as it claims where only honourable men should be vying for the exalted office of the governor.

From what has been going on so far, it is clear that the candidates are not discussing issues. They are also not averse to casting mud at one another in a very dishonourable way to gain political advantage. From Kayode Fayemi, the incumbent governor, and candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, who is plotting hard to make sure that nobody upstages his plan to serve a second term in office, to Ayo Fayose, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who wants to get back to the office where he was ignominiously chased out in his first coming as the governor some 10 years ago, to Bamidele Opeyemi, candidate of the Labour Party, the story is the same. They are all striving to dig up any dirt real or imagined to tarnish the image of one another. The result is that the electorate may be carried away by all the tantrums from the politicians and may not be able to pay attention to the real issue that matters – who amongst them is best qualified to do the honourable thing that will uplift the wellbeing of Ekiti people.  As it is our tradition in Realnews, the editorial board as part of our function to educate the people, decided this week to focus on forthcoming election in Ekiti so as to help the electorate to grasp real issues at stake to be able to vote the right candidate that will take Ekiti to the next level. The cover story which is entitled Ekiti Guber Race: How Politicians Plot to Capture State House was written by Olu Ojewale, general editor, who doubles as our in house authority on political matters in the country. You will find the story very interesting. Enjoy it.

Maureen Chigbo
Editor

Email: mechigbo@yahoo.com  |  mechigbo@realnewsmagazine.com

— Apr. 14, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT