A former Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly and a one-time Acting Governor of the state, Clarence Olafemi, has denied reaching any pact or agreement with a former governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Audu Abubakar to be his deputy.
Olafemi, who took charge of the state in the aftermath of the nullification of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris’ election as the governor of the state in his second tenure, was reacting to a statement allegedly made by Audu that he has reached an agreement with Clarence to be his running mate in the November 21 governorship election in the state.
Both Audu and Clarence are aspirants for the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
According to Olafemi, who spoke with newsmen in Abuja on the sideline of the ongoing screening exercise by the All Progressives Congress, APC, for its guber aspirants, he does not have any agreement with the two term governor of the state.
“I don’t have any pact with Audu and I cannot have any with him. We are both in the contest to get the ticket of the APC just like the remaining 28 aspirants.
“I find it amusing hearing that the former governor actually said he has reached an agreement with me but again, I am forced to believe it is because he knows I am a factor in the race for the ticket and possibly the most favoured among the lot”, Olafemi enthused.
On the agitation for Power Shift by Western Senatorial district of the state, Olafemi said those calling for the shift were not serious in any way, adding that what has been going on was mere noise making, as they have not matched their clamour with action.
“It is funny that people are shouting for power shift but what have they done to ensure that power truly shifts? You want an Okun man to pick the APC ticket and eventually become the governor of the state, yet you have six Okun people in the race for the ticket. It will actually interest you to know some of these people are being propped up by people from other areas so as to spoil the chance of genuine aspirants from Okun land.
“So for me, in as much as I believe it is the turn of the Western Senatorial district to produce the next governor of the state, those who are shouting power shift are equally guilty of hypocrisy. We have been trying to put our house in order but it is unfortunate that nothing positive has happened”.
The former Speaker also debunked insinuations that the ticket was for Audu Abubakar to take because of alleged interest of the national leadership in his aspiration, adding that the leadership of the party has given assurances that it has no candidate and that everybody will have a level playing ground to operate.
“I do not think there is any truth is that; I have sat down with the leadership of the party and I was assured that there is no preferred candidate anywhere. The party is interested in having the best candidate emerge at the end of the exercise. Nobody is aiding anybody. We are all entitled to the same under the party.
“Don’t also forget that there is virtually no difference between me and Audu. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the APC just like me. He is a member of the Elders Council just like me. He was a member of the Presidential Campaign Council just like me. Yes, we conceded the leadership of the party in the state to him initially but since he has decided to become an aspirant, he does not have any claim to that any longer. That’s simple logic, I suppose,” he said
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