Just in: Bimbo Daramola dumps APC for SDP, drums support for Segun Oni

All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial aspirant in Ekiti State in 2018, Hon. Bimbo Daramola has dumped the ruling APC for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) with immediate effect.

Daramola who represented Ekiti North 1 (Ikole/Oye) Federal Constituency in the 7th Assembly announced his decision to leave the party after 18 years on Wednesday, June 1, 2022.

He made the announcement in a statement he personally signed and made available to the media including veracitydesk.com.ng.

He said the unfortunate development within the APC in the state necessitated his well thought out decision.

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He further stressed that sincere sacrifices had to be made in a bid to solve deep rooted national problems hence the need to move on.

Daramola also vowed to throw his weight behind former Governor of Ekiti State, Engineer Segun Oni in the forthcoming June 18, 2022 governorship poll. It would be recalled that Oni equally dumped APC in February 2022 to sail through his guber ambition on the SDP platform.

Below is the full statement of Hon. Daramola, a former Director-General of Dr Kayode Fayemi Governorship Campaign Organisation in 2014:

#Ekiti #People #First; #The #Journey to the #Future:

#Bidding #Yesterday #Goodbye, #Welcoming #Tommorow.

Today the 1st of June 2022, marks the end of my 18 years sojourn in elective politicking via the vehicle of the All Progressives Congress.

That journey started with the sole purpose of joining hands with other well-meaning persons to not only serve our people sincerely but efforts to have a state and society that we can all be proud of, having being born and raised in one.

Like all journeys, the destination is always known, but what may not be seen from the beginning is the full nature of the path to the destination.

But as all pilgrims know, it is not often that journeys are smooth and incidences free. So has it been with my Political career.

Today, it is with a large sense of pain, somewhat disappointment that I turn my back and walk away from the house that we jointly built on strong values, what I thought were the pristine values of Ekiti people and our commitment and dedication to a society that works, held in place by pillars of the creed and ethos of pure love, justice, fairness and unity of purpose.

When I chose to leave the comfort of a predictable and straightforward life in the organized public sector, as a Geologist turned Banker and PR Consultant,where the guarantees of a good life for myself and family and maybe a few others were not in doubt, I had assumed and living with the impression that I was pursuing a dream to contribute to building of a society and state where life could be more meaningful for a lot more people over and above few privileged fat cats or self which is what “good” politics promises, but no sooner that I came in that I began to see different twists and human machinations’ that are antithetical to the ideals that politics is meant to advance, fulfil and deliver on.

I was clearly under illusion. I was naive and paid huge prices for blind trust. The shared values that I thought were the ingredients of the mortar that cemented my bond with some people was not mixed in pure concrete but an admixture of large measure of quick sand.

Shockingly enough, every habit and manifestation that is not right is tucked into the inexcusable but ready excuse of “that is politics” when people lie, deceive, are insensitive, and more concerned about themselves alone or use the people’s mandate to pursue and advance self interest or perpetuate injustice, at the expense of others, all of these are explained away gloatingly as politics, and with all of that, the prospects of holding the mandate of the people in trust to their ultimate benefit and service got dimed and compromised.

These always trigger a revulsion in me, and I am told to endure it, as quitting won’t make things better, rather, it will engender and deepen the propensity to perpetuate all the vices that I found intolerable in politics.

In my political sojourn, the events of the past five years have brought me great pains, and I took them all with equanimity and fortitude, but it seems as if the more I tried to bear them all in my stride, the more it seems like energizing all the forces that seems to want to truncate my vision of a better society and better life for my people.

I tried for about 5 years and endured it, but I am begining to feel guilty,  facing young people who I mentor, with my increasing inability to live up to my counsels to them to be bold and pursue their vision.

So I came to the junction where I have had reasons to ask myself why I am in politics?

To serve the people or to be a faithful  shadowy party member, desirous of pursuing filthy lucre or with self serving motives.

I have had reasons to also intentionally review all my overwhelming commitments to  contribute my humble quota to grow the party over the past 18years, when it was darkest, as we went through our trenches not sure that our adversity laden midnight will yield to a morning of promise and prosperity.

I slaved it up  alongside other patriots, but today nobody remembers those humble and diverse contributions.

My  person and past and present humble efforts now toned down to wimp whispers, or matter of discussion in low tones, the in distant receding lines and footnotes of history, to those who care.

I have seen beyond words that nothing seems to want to change or abate, that way putting in jeopardy my unalloyed determination to continue to serve my people as i did with all of my being, impacting people and society when i had the opportunity to serve as Member House of Representatives, (2011-2015) my humble track and service records remain an open book for all to see.

In a party where I gave all of me and putting my life on the line severally, over the past 18years, it seems the environment is deliberately been made very toxic for sincerity of intentions,  asyphixiating to the  advancement of true service.

Today what is getting deeply entrenched is a glorification of injustice, inequality, cronyism, at the expense of what a truly progressive party should be.

Indeed I was shocked when I read in Tribune Newspapers of May 25, 2022, where it was stated that the Governor of my state, Dr kayode Fayemi, a man I had known for 44 years, he was 13 years old and i 11 back in our days in our secondary school,  our Alma mata, Christ School, Ado Ekiti, a man that I served as the Director General of His re-election campaign in 2014, when we had one of the most viscious campaigns in our state’s history, said “APC is a party of Baboon dey Work, Monkey dey Chop” and further said “APC does not have a good reward system”, how so true.

But I would have thought that he should have sought to correct this manifest limitations as he so identified.

No matter what informed these comments, I would have that he should have sound checked these observations as our leader in Ekiti.

After all charity they say starts from home.

If he had, may be I and my supporters won’t be leaving the APC today, for 18 years, we had kept faith, but the son of a tailor still walked around in tattered clothes or even naked! As Governor Fayemi veritably said, in APC MONKEY DEY WORK, BABOON DEY CHOP.

I ordinarily would have thought that my 18 years of unblemished records and unparalleled sacrifices would count for something,  a few specific instances would suffice, I would have thought  that respecting the political zoning arrangement for fairness would count for something, not hand picking cronies from ONLY one local government to run for a political position that alternates between two local governments.

Or indeed allowing free electoral contest would have made the party’s outlook better.

So the Ekiti blood in me began to protest and leaning on the history of our forebears, I could not help but to draw strength from the sincerity of purpose of the Fajuyis, the courage of  the fabunmis of okemesi warrior, the ogbigbogbo ni oran omokunri idolofin of Ado, to reflect on my sojourn in politics and to decide on whose side I want to be, the people or a political party!

Above all I’m mindful of the judgement  of history.

I choose to be with the people and the advancement  of their interests knowing that a political party that will not serve the interest of the people enduringly and sincerely is like a good vehicle on the outside but with a bad engine that cannot guarantee getting to the destination.

It is for this reason, that Today I have come to that position  to resign and renounce my membership of the All Progressive Congress and pitch my tent with the Social Democratic Party, a political party that once was the vehicle of hope in this nation, with such a historical profile, it is possible therefore working with others of like minds to re-enact the Pan Nigerian essence of the Social Democratic Party that had Bashorun M.K.O Abiola as the Presidential candidate and bring the spirit of such just men alive again for such a time as this when it is clear that the citizens are disillusioned and despondent, and bordering on giving up on life, and fighting chance ebbing daily.

The dawn of a new day is here not only in Ekiti State but across Nigeria.

Today as I join the Social Democratic Party, I  invite all of us as  thoroughbred and freeborn, Ekitis, that we should let the real Ekiti spirit that abhors injustice, but  promote true love, equity and fairness arise, and let a new state be born.

From Ikole to Ikere, Isan to Ise, Itaawure to Ita gbangba, we are faced with same existential challenges and crisis of development and well being of our people, that may conquer us if we do not allow the spirit of our forebears to rise and defend this land and our pristine identity with all that it takes.

Generations yet unborn may not forgive us if we abdicate this duty and responsibility at a time such as this.

If I want to be a “politician” of the opportunistic hue, I’ll choose to remain in the false comfort of membership of a party where justice and fairness has departed from particularly in our state today and be haunted tomorrow by the consequences.

Today, we have continued to raise a young generation that are no longer steeped in the Ekiti ideological tendencies and conviction, or baked in the crucible of the Ekiti ideals, rather that of survival by duplicitous opportunism.

The emerging leaders of our state are now made to only subscribe to falsehood and opportunistic cronyism to move up the ladder in life in our state.

These people who represent  the future of our state are daily fed on huge dosages of wrong values in leadership recruitment and dropping standards instead of the time tested merit, hardwork  and spirit of fair competition.

We have now raised a bunch of young people whose claim to want to serve derives from “patronising loyalty” that’s not informed by real values of strength  of character drawn from an exemplar, not to the people but to the people in power.

This journey  to reset is a collective responsibility that has compelling places for all of us from our esteemed Kabiyesis, Market men and women to civil servants, the clerics, leaders of thought to okada riders.

We need to get our identity and positive values back and the time is Now!

Every on looker or by stander is a co-conspirator against our collective fortune and well-being as a state and people.

I therefore ask you all, my kith and kin Ekitis at home and in diaspora to see this step for what it is, ask more clinical questions about our people’s welfare and the state of our state, this is the issue at stake.

If we unite and agree that our state can be better, then the time to unite, to fight for what we believe is now, let us not be selfish, marooned in our individual comfort zones or let empty and lousy partisanship continue to divide us.

It is time to put the fate and fortune of our people first and not let our future remain in the hands of mariners and hostage takers.

In the dream to build a good society for all, we all must wake up with all hands on deck.

We cannot abandon our fate to arbitrariness and indiscretion of a few.

We must look in the mirror and see who is there!

The man in the mirror is us, our children and grand children.

The time to bring alive the Ekiti spirit is Now and the vehicle today is the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

To those who are still enamoured by blind partisanship over our corporate well being, I wish them good luck.

I have taken this decision after wide consultations and not a flash of irrational reaction for selfish considerations.

Let me remind everyone that political parties do not make their members good people, conversely its when good people,but the works of their hands not what they  mouth, populate a party that a good identity is given to such a party.

I make bold to say APC never gave me a code of conduct when I was a member House of Representatives, all the modest good works attributed to me all came from my heart, and a reflection  of who I am and purpose that the people’s mandate must be put.

Lastly my past track record, reputation and character in and out of position will remain my collateral for today’s decision and the inviolable asset regardless of where I find myself  and my future aspiration.

I want to thank all my supporters, within my constituency and stretched to the entire State, for your trust and for enduring the pains that we were  deliberately subjected to over the past five years.

I guarantee you that I will never mislead you, be rest assured that bi Ekun le pe di ale kan, Ayo mbo lowuro.

I bear on my shoulders and in my heart that self respecting responsibility to look out for you and your interests more than ever before, remember  I said to you severally, politics may have brought us together, relationship will bind us together.

I thank you all from the depth of my heart and you are further reassured that we are family.

Let’s rise from here and tell everyone that the future beckons from this point.

Thank You all. God bless You.

SDP… PROGRESS.

Long live Ekiti State.

Congressman Bimbo Daramola.
1st June, 2022.