As Ekiti State prepares for Saturday’s governorship election, the three leading political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) have all expressed optimism about their chances, with each projecting victory in key parts of the state.
A total of 1,059,360 registered voters are expected to decide who emerges as the next governor, with the parties intensifying last-minute efforts ahead of the crucial poll.
The ruling APC said it was aiming for a sweeping victory across the state’s 16 local government areas. The party’s State Publicity Secretary, Segun Dipe, said the APC was targeting no fewer than 500,000 votes and hoped to surpass that figure.
“Our expectation is to win by a landslide. We are looking at winning all 16 local governments, the 177 wards and the 2,445 polling units in the state,” Dipe said, adding that the party’s focus was on making history rather than entertaining fears about the outcome.
According to him, the APC remained confident of victory and was only concerned with securing a convincing mandate from the electorate. “We know we will win, but we want to win by a landslide. We want to realise and even exceed our target of 500,000 votes,” he stated.
The African Democratic Congress, however, maintained that it enjoyed widespread support among voters and could emerge victorious in at least 10 local government areas. The party’s State Secretary, Jackson Adebayo, acknowledged concerns over incumbency and vote-buying but insisted that the goodwill of the electorate would ultimately determine the outcome.
“We believe in the goodwill of the people. Not every voter is corrupt and many people will still vote according to their conscience. We are confident of winning many local governments and can comfortably secure about 10 of them,” Adebayo said.
Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Party declared that it was in a strong position to reclaim power in the state. Director of Media for the PDP Governorship Campaign Council, Sanya Atofarati, said the party was already enjoying comfortable leads in at least 10 local government areas and projected a victory margin of about 60 per cent.
Atofarati also called on security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure a transparent and credible electoral process. He described the Ekiti governorship poll as significant, noting that its outcome would serve as a pointer to future elections, particularly the 2027 general elections.
Will mass expectation translate into electoral success when ballots are counted?
