A member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly and one of the members appointed as Returning Officers in the January 27 All Progressives Congress primary in the state, Hon. Adeoye Aribasoye, has maintained that he is fit to perform any duty for the party on account of his proven integrity and consistency in the progressive fold.
Aribasoye, who is representing Ikole Consistency 2, considered it insulting, undignifying, defaming and libelous, for anyone to described him as unfit to be appointed as Returning Officer for the just concluded party’s primary held in Ekiti recently.
The lawmaker was reacting to a statement made by a governorship contestant, Engr. Kayode Ojo, branding him as a complete lackey of Governor Kayode Fayemi, thereby disqualifying him to hold such a sensitive position for APC.
Responding to the statement in Ado-Ekiti, on Monday, Aribasoye said the party appointed him as Returning Officer for Ikole Local Government in the primary on account of his unshaken, trusted and proven integrity and not for his loyalty to anyone.
Aribasoye boasted that he is more than qualified to hold any position in APC no matter how sensitive, having been steadfast with the progressive party since his foray into politics close to two decades ago.
On the allegation that he was one of the chief campaigners of one of the aspirants and winner of the primary, Hon Biodun Oyebanji, the lawmaker described the accusation as a desperate attempt to smear his image and justified the claim being made against him.
The Human Rights Activist said the only role he undertook in the countdown to the primary election was that he attended the stakeholders’ meeting held by Oyebanji with party leaders and members in Ikole Local Government based on request, which he had to attend as an elected official in the council.
“I found it defaming, insulting and and libelous for some of the aspirants to consider me unfit to be appointed as a Returning Officer for APC, a party I have served so zealously and assiduously as an ordinary member, one of the youth leaders and now a leader as an elected member of the House of Assembly.
“Let me clarify this: I was appointed based on my proven integrity and that widespread notion that I am diligent in whatever assignment given to me. I am not one person that can be swayed easily or push around by anyone, so I did the task I was given dispassionately.
“Though I cannot deny my political affinity to Governor Fayemi, but that didn’t reflect in the discharge of my work as a Returning Officer. And on what basis would my closeness to the governor affect being appointed?
“The whole world knew that Governor Fayemi was not a contestant, he wasn’t on the ballot, so I consider this a mere smear campaign by some people. He had also made himself clear several times that he has no anointed candidate out of the eight aspirants that vied for the position and I knew this position didn’t change till the day of that election.”
Espousing his views further on his eligibility as a Returning Officer, Aribasoye said the APC constitution didn’t define qualification for the position based on relationship, but on membership.
“As a party member, one should consider the party’s constitution as his or her working Bible. There was nowhere where it was enunciated that one stand disqualified as a Returning Officer of APC primary based on your relationship with someone in that party.
“What the APC statute stipulated was that the person must be a member with proven integrity and good standing and the whole members of APC in Ekiti knew my stand and commitment to our party.
” With these, I restate that Governor Mohammed Abubakar Badaru-led Committee didn’t flout the rules or compromise the election by my appointment,” he said.
The lawmaker added that his critics also made a fatal mistake by making special reference to him even when members of their political camps were incorporated and used by the Committee as Presiding Officers and Returning Officers for the poll.
“At the stakeholders’ meeting held by the Committee with aspirants a day preceding the primary, all aspirants were asked to submit 20 names each to be used and these were incorporated into the list despite that they are from certain political camps.
“If their members and loyalists’ names could be compiled to be used as Presiding and Returning Officers, why then condemning my appointment?
“I want to submit that condemning my appointment under this context was akin to hypocrisy and I could only advise the aggrieved aspirants to think of the larger interest of APC and support the party to win the next election, because we are all stakeholders, who owe it a duty to protect the party at all times.”