We Have Pretenders as Presidential Aspirants in APC, Says Fayemi

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Despite parading over a dozen presidential aspirants, one of the contenders for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket, and Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has declared that majority of the  aspirants are “pretenders,” insisting that  only five of them are serious contenders.

According to him, “This is a season of visits, and the states keep receiving us. The list of presidential aspirants says there are 23 but only five of us are going around the country with this-you can separate the pretenders from the contenders.”

Fayemi, who said apart from himself (he did not name the remaining four serious presidential aspirant), while addressing APC delegates in Minna, Niger State, yesterday, submitted that the campaign of the aspirants has “separated the pretenders from the contenders.”

He told the delegates that when he becomes the president, he would address the security challenges bedevilling the country, adding that more attention would be paid to intelligence and the use of technology to fight insurgency.

Fayemi, who doubles as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) also promised to decentralise the power sector in the country, insisting that his plan will bring about stability in power supply across the country.

“Nigerians are not happy with us that we have not been able to move the needle towards uninterrupted power supply. I think in addition to the national grid, we need to have regional grids, mini-grids, micro grids that would decentralise power supply to the local levels, and this would address this challenge that we all face.

“Once we address the challenges of power, we address the problem of industrialisation and productivity in the country,” he said.

 Fayemi said that he has the capacity to   “remake Nigeria without unmaking the country,” stressing that Nigeria would be restored to its place as the giant of Africa.

He assured the state that he would ensure that the reward system of the party would be changed, adding that the reward would match the efforts put in by members and also that women would be given priority in his administration.

In his remarks, the Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, echoed the submission of his guest that there are pretenders as presidential aspirants, because only five of the contenders have visited the state.

“We are gradually becoming political liars because when everybody comes, we do not know what to tell them. Only five or six people have been to the state, I hope it remains that way,” he said.