The African Democratic Congress has deployed its two most prominent national figures, National Chairman David Mark and National Secretary Rauf Aregbesola, to Ado-Ekiti for the party’s grand finale campaign rally ahead of the June 20 governorship election, presenting its candidate Ambassador Dare Bejide as a candidate capable of breaking the political hold on Ekiti State that the party said had persisted since the state’s creation.
Aregbesola addressed the rally with sharp criticism of the ruling APC, alleging that Nigerians were paying the price of poor governance through not only the economic hardships of daily life but also the human cost of insecurity in communities where bandits and terrorists operated with impunity. He said the country’s resources were being deployed in ways that did not serve ordinary citizens and called on voters to take responsibility for changing the country’s direction through their ballots.
Mark told the gathering that the people of Ekiti deserved a governor who reflected their aspirations and pledged that he would return for the inauguration of a new ADC administration if voters turned out in sufficient numbers on Saturday.
Election integrity organizations separately raised concerns ahead of the poll. Yiaga Africa identified weaknesses in mock accreditation exercises, cited Ado-Ekiti, Ikole, Oye, and Ikere local government areas as security flashpoints requiring monitoring, and urged INEC to ensure timely deployment of materials and full functionality of biometric accreditation equipment. International Press Centre and the Centre for Media and Society urged journalists to maintain strict non-partisanship and personal safety precautions while covering what they described as a poll with significant implications for democratic standards in Ekiti State.
