Ekiti North: Senator Arise insists on primaries, warns against imposition

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and aspirant for the Ekiti North Senatorial District, Senator Ayodele Arise, has vowed not to step down for any aspirant, including the incumbent lawmaker, Senator Cyril Fasuyi, ahead of the forthcoming general elections.

Arise, who spoke with journalists in Abuja on Sunday, warned party stakeholders against any move to impose candidates, insisting that the process must follow provisions of the Electoral Act.

The former lawmaker hinged his argument on the fact that the 2026 Electoral Act provides for either direct primaries or consensus arrangements for political parties fielding candidates.

His comments come amid speculations that some federal lawmakers in the ruling party may emerge through consensus, a move that could sideline other aspirants.

But Arise maintained that no candidate should be imposed on Ekiti North, stressing that he would insist on direct primaries if consensus fails.

He said, “The terms are very clear. It’s either consensus or direct primaries. Now, a number of people felt that since we already have a government in place, the governor can just unilaterally appoint those he wants as the people who will run for election using some of his political appointees.

“But the governor has come out to say he has no hand in such arrangements, even though we see some people using his name here and there. For me, I had told the campaign committee that nobody should just bring any name to my senatorial district because I’m running.

“I ran before I was in the Senate. I gave a very good account of myself. The people in the senatorial district are almost across the state. They have quite a lot of respect for what I did while I was in the Senate, and the people in the senatorial district had the opportunity to test what you call representation while I was in the Senate.”

The APC chieftain also cautioned Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, against backing Fasuyi, warning that it could affect the governor’s re-election bid.

He said, “That Senator Fasuyi is the Director General of Governor Oyebanji really means nothing. The governor will change him. If he doesn’t change him, he will see what they call transferred aggression.

“He has an election in June. So he does not need Cyril Fasuyi to be his DG. It is either Fasuyi is his DG or he drops from being a contestant. So why would you select somebody who is running against other people as your DG? He has no value that he can add to the election of the governor.

“So I don’t know the people advising him. If I advise him, he may think that it’s because of myself. But it’s wrong. You cannot make somebody who has such negative popularity on the ground.”

Arise also dismissed claims that he is being backed by a former Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi.

He said, “I am not a hungry man. For anyone to say somebody is sponsoring me, that means the person is giving me money to run and sponsoring my campaign. I have been in ICT and I’ve been largely blessed. I’m not hungry.

“Where I put my name, they would just say, oh, it’s Fayemi’s person. Forgetting the fact that while Fayemi was governor, I ran two or three times. Fayemi did not allow me to go to the Senate. He gave it to somebody else.

“So I don’t know why all of a sudden the noise now is that Fayemi is sponsoring me. I don’t know where that is coming from because I spoke with all of them.”

Continuing, Arise said he opted for direct primaries due to growing concerns over alleged political manoeuvring and attempts to impose candidates, warning that such moves could create divisions within the party.

He argued that while consensus could work if mutually agreed, forcing aspirants to step down through backdoor arrangements would not be acceptable.

Arise also rejected calls for endorsement, insisting that the electoral guidelines only recognise consensus or primaries.

According to him, where consensus fails, a transparent primary election should determine the party’s candidate.