From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti

The governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2026 election in Ekiti State, Engr Kayode Ojo, has officially declared his intention to contest the seat in the forthcoming election in the state.

Ojo who stormed the APC secretariat in Ado-Ekiti, capital of the state on Thursday, was received by a massive crowd of party supporters from across the state.

However, the Chairman of the party in the state, Hon. Sola Elesin and other officials of the party, were not present at the secretariat to receive the aspirant.

Speaking with newsmen at the event, Ojo, who expressed his delight at what he described as massive turnout of people, added it is a confirmation that the people are yearning for a change of government in the state.

“I am very elated by the massive turnout and I am very happy with our people. They came out on their own to come and receive us despite the fact that this morning they blocked the roads. They set up different road blocks against our people, but the people still came out. If they had not mounted the road blocks, the crowd would have been probably five or ten times what you are seeing here today.

“This is a confirmation of the fact that our people want change in our party, APC, and they want it now and they love the party and they do not want the risk of us going into the election precariously, in a way that we could have a problem, that is why they want the change now within the party so we can move forward and claim the 2026 election and eventually win the 2027 election for President Bola Tinubu.”

On what are his expectations from party members ahead of the party’s October 27 primary election, Ojo said, “I will just tell the party members to go back to their wards to do the jobs they need to do in their various wards and to understand that every politics is local and politics starts from your ward, so they should go and be relevant in their wards.”

Reacting to the absence of party executives at the secretariat, the aspirant said, “Well, it is expected because in the politics of today we have an incumbent who will try to manipulate them, to tell them what to do and he doesn’t want us to be received. But, the important thing is that we are loved by the real people and the people are the ones that will vote. The party excos are just to administer the party, while the ordinary party members are the people that actually vote. So, what is important is the vote. And we will still reach out to the excos, they are our people too. We will still talk to them for them to understand that they supposed to be neutral umpire in what is going.”

He noted that he would be satisfied “with whatever mode of primary that the party will adopt in the October 27 primary election.”