Segun Oni, the SDP’s governorship candidate in Ekiti, claims he left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) due to “cheating.”
Oni, a former governor of Ekiti, said this during a Channels TV debate on Sunday.
In response to accusations that he was a “notorious defector,” the governorship candidate insisted that his decision to leave the PDP was not based on desperation.
On January 26, Oni lost the PDP governorship primary in Ekiti to Bisi Kolawole, a former governor of the state and the preferred candidate of Ayodele Fayose.
After receiving 671 votes, Kolawole was declared the election winner, defeating Oni, who received 330 votes.
The Segun Oni campaign organization has rejected the results of the PDP primary, claiming that the process has disenfranchised members of the organization.
Also Read: APC Ticket: My Zero Vote Shows Intolerance Of Certain Kinds Of Politics, Says Bakare
After failing to secure the party’s ticket, Oni resigned his membership in the PDP on February 5.
Speaking during the debate, he accused the party of dishonesty in its conduct of the Ekiti governorship primary.
“I do not like cheating. I don’t cheating and don’t like people to cheat. If I see a party that has no respect for its own rules, I see it as not my type of party,” Oni said.
“I contested the PDP primary and it was supposed to be a secret ballot and the world saw how it became open to the extent that one man was being shown every ballot.
“I believe if the party meant business, it should have said no. If it aspires to rule Nigeria and put confidence in people, it would have said no.
“I detest cheating and don’t collaborate with cheats.”
