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Ekiti Elders Support power shift in 2007
By David Atalese,
special
correspondent, Ado-Ekiti
Clamours for power
shift from the Ekiti Central Senatorial District to the North got a boost at
the weekend, when elders of the state and chieftains of the existing political
parties in the state resolved that power must shift to the north.
At a well attended
meeting in Ise-Ekiti, they agreed that their decision to agitate for power
shift was borne out of the fact that Ekiti Central Senatorial Zone has had
enough share of the dividends of democracy.
They recall that the
immediate past state governor, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo and the incumbent
governor, Ayodele Fayose, hails from the Central senatorial district.
They argued further
that the state was not created for the people in the central senatorial
district alone but for all the three districts and since the duo are from the
central senatorial zone they should allow others to take their turn.
Earlier, the Secretary
General of the Elders Forum, Chief Idowu Odeyemi, said the call for power shift
was not “aimed at witch-hunting our brothers in the central senatorial district,
but since all of us struggled for the creation of this state, we must reap its
sweat or bitter fruits”.
He explained that the
performance of either of the two governors should not be yardstick for the
retention of power in the central senatorial zone come 2007.
“What we are
saying is that we are tired of concentrating power in a zone,” he added.
State assembly deputy
speaker, Mr. Oladapo Karounwi, who is from the central zone, advised those
clamouring for power shift to produce their best materials in the interest of
the people of the state.
Former state health
commissioner, Professor Joseph Oluwasanmi said “we must be battle ready,
work harder, and relate with the people at the grassroots, if we are really
serious about the power shift”.
He said the gathering
was not a plot against the present government but a collective decision of the
people of the state so as to ensure that no part of the state was marginalised.
It would be recalled
that the state governor, Ayodele Fayose had said that when the time comes, his
performance would speak for him, assuring that no section of the state would be
left uncared for.
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