By Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Segun Oni, The Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in Ekiti State, Segun Oni, has disclosed that he left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because of “cheating.”
Oni, a former governor of Ekiti State, stated this on Sunday during a debate organised by Channels TV.
Responding to allegations of being a “notorious defector,”,l the governorship candidate said his decision to decamp from the PDP was not borne out of desperation.
Oni lost the PDP governorship primary in the state to Bisi Kolawole, the preferred candidate of former Governor Ayodele Fayos.
Kolawole was announced as the winner of the election after polling 671 votes to beat Oni, his closest rival, who had 330 votes.
The Segun Oni campaign organisation rejected the result of the PDP primary, alleging that members of the organisation were disenfranchised by the process.Few days after, Oni resigned his membership of PDP.
Speaking during the debate, he accused the party of dishonesty in its conduct of the Ekiti governorship primary.
“I do not like cheating. I don’t cheatand don’t like people to cheat. If I see a party that has no respect for its own rules, I see it as not my type of party.
“I contested the PDP primary and it was supposed to be a secret ballot and the world saw how it became open to the extent that one man was being shown every ballot.
“I believe if the party meant business, it should have said no. If it aspires to rule Nigeria and put confidence in people, it would have said no.
“I detest cheating and don’t collaborate with cheats,” he said.
Oni governed Ekiti State on PDP platform between May 29, 2007 and October 15, 2010.
He was removed by a court judgement that ruled in favour of the then-candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Kayode Fayemi.
In 2014, he defected to the APC from PDP to support the second term bid of Fayemi, the incumbent governor of Ekiti.In 2020, Oni returned to the PDP.
