By Ayodele Abere.
An elder statesman and one of the great politicians in Ekiti State, Chief John Olumuyiwa Filani, has described the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the best candidate that has an edge over others in the February 25th Presidential election in Nigeria.
Chief Filani, who hails from Ikole Local Government Area of the State and had been a member of both PDP and APC at different times, revealed this while addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti, the State capital, on the state of the Nation and the forthcoming general elections.
According to him, “as a politician, I felt quite frustrated with the way things were going in this country. The political situation in Nigeria especially the 2023 presidential election calls for concern in which one cannot continue to sit on the fence, hence I feel I should chip in my own views and as well justify my conviction on the leadership qualities of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu”. Saying that they were together sometimes in the United Kingdom where they fought the government of Late Sani Abacha to a stand still in Nigeria.
“Apart from the fact that we were colleagues, by that time l was the Secretary of NADECO abroad, I was in London then when the likes of Bola Tinubu, late Pa Enahoro, Ben Okpoti, Femi Falana were thrown out into exile. At that particular time in question, I am talking of 1992 and 1993, majority of them came to London Metropolis while some came to other parts of the UK.
While calling on the entire people of Ekiti State and Nigerians as a whole to think and cast their votes for the APC Candidate, he said Asiwaju would perform differently if voted into power. Noting that Tinubu is yet to attain power, Chief Filani said he cannot be blamed for the failure of the present administration under President Buhari as he has no control over most of the policies being rolled out by the President.
“I know APC has not done very well in certain areas, but I can assure you, Tinubu will redeem the image of APC. I maintain that leadership is very key and as at now, there is little or nothing that Asiwaju Tinubu can do other than only to follow what the Presidency is dishing out because he is yet to have the mandate, therefore, if Tinubu becomes the President, am convinced that few of the policies of Buhari will survive because it will be changed by Bola Tinubu.
“Look at Lagos state, go and see what it was before 1999 and Bola Tinubu was not the only governor of Lagos state, it was the efforts of all the governors that were there before but we know that during Bola Tinubu’s time, he tried his best just like others, but we could count one, two, three and four achievements that ordinarily even a military government can never attain.
“For almost 20 months, former President Olusegun Obasanjo refused to pay Lagos state their allocations, but still survived and did not only create additional LCDAs, but also financed them and i am telling you the LCDAs were not recognised constitutionally, but I assure you that if Bola Tinubu gets there, he will make sure the LCDAs gets the necessary recognition and by extension it will get to Ekiti state and we will benefit from it because we will have almost 35.
Chief Filani explained that energy which is very key in any economy is nothing to write home about, “like in my area, we only have 30 minutes light everyday and every month they bring bills of thousands of naira and yet we are in darkness. I have electronics and yet, no light to power it. I have generator, but I only put it on in the night because I can’t use generator 24 hours in a day and it can’t continue like that. If I am using pre-paid, how about the industries and other private individuals how will they survive?
“But I assure you if Bola Tinubu becomes the President, he will ensure that these things work out because this is someone i know who won’t go back on his promises.
“On the Education sector? Asiwaju is somebody you can talk to, he is a listening leader and will always listen to opinions. I have worked with him and i know how he can perform and I am using this medium to tell all the aspirants that in the city of the blind, one eyed man is the king whether you like it or not, he has that edge.
Stressing further on who Asiwaju is, the former NADECO Secretary in Abroad said, though, “Asiwaju is not a saint, only Jesus is but some still antagonises some of his policies. Of all the Messiahs that we have had, none is like Jesus Christ, therefore of all the aspirants, Asiwaju remains the best. It is now left for individuals to accept or reject what I just said.
“And because of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and according to the constitution, before you can follow this man you have to join the party, I hereby declare that I am now a full fledged member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ikole-Ekiti, Ekiti state and Nigeria, I am therefore encouraging and appealing to my people to go and get their PVC and come that election, I will vote APC and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President because the PVC is my ticket to do that.
Chief Filani also described the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, as a cool headed and intelligent young man who he said would perform excellently in the state and as a God fearing person, a gentle, kind, loving and very respectful, who also commands the respect of all Ekiti elders, has his full support with prayers for a successful tenure.
