I’m Not Buhari’s Candidate – Ojudu

The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, has dismissed the notion that he is the candidate of President Muhammadu Buhari for Ekiti State’s governorship election come July 14, 2018. 

Senator Ojudu spoke recently in Abuja at the national secretariat of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) after collecting the gubernatorial nomination and expression of interest forms.

He said that it was an insult to attribute his ambition to President Buhari going by his experience, knowledge and education.
He said, “Let me say this, I am not the President’s candidate. I’m nobody’s candidate. The president is a father to all of us. I have told you I have a history in this country. I started fighting the military at the age of 27. I wrote my first ‘will’ at the age of 29. I was locked up 15 times between 1993 and 1998. I am a man of myself. I fought Babangida. I fought Abacha. I fought Obasanjo. I campaigned for democracy. I campaigned for good governance, I campaigned for human right and I suffered for it.
“I was in prison for nine months. I wore one cloth for nine months. That cloth I wore for nine months is in the museum at the epicentre of Ekiti State. So, at my level, at 57, I am not a crippled. I am not a baby. I don’t need crutches.
“I have enough knowledge and education to be President of this country. Therefore, it is an insult to say somebody is carrying me. I don’t need anybody to carry me.”
Ojudu added, “President Buhari is our leader. He is our president and he is the leader of our party. If you know him very well, he’s a fair-minded person. If I decide today, if his wife is from Ekiti and she’s in this race with me, President Buhari will still be fair to all of us. That’s the man I know. So, perish that thought. If anybody comes to you to say, he is being backed or presented by the President, know that person is a bloody liar.”
Another aspirant who obtained the forms today, Mrs Christina Yaya-Kolade said that she was in the race to reshape, restructure and revive Ekiti State.
Dr. Yaya-Kolade promised to address the crisis of bad roads, poor education, pitiable state of health sector, inadequate attention given to agriculture and the plights of women and youths in the state.
Dr Makanjuola Owolabi also picked the forms today, bringing the number of aspirants on the APC platform to 17.