The major contenders Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Kolapo Olushola-Eleka of the Peoples Democratic Party were absent.
The Ekiti Governorship Debate 2018 hosted by EIE Nigeria in partnership with TV Continental in Ado-ekiti on 12th July featured three gubernatorial candidates, Abiodun Aluko of Accord Party, Akin Aiyegbusi of the Social Democratic party and Segun Adewale of the Advanced Democratic Party.
The major contenders Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Kolapo Olushola-Eleka of the Peoples Democratic Party were absent.
The event kicked off with an opening speech by the Executive Director of EIE Nigeria, Yemi Adamolekun while Temitope Omotayo, the 35 year old governorship candidate for the Young Democratic Party (YDP) spoke about the role youths can play in nation building. “You need not have billions of Naira, you need not have to steal to contest in our party,” he said.
Questions asked revolved around the candidates plans for Ekiti people on job creation, education, security, healthcare, amongst other pertinent issues.
Meanwhile, the moderator also clarified that Mr Olusola-Eleka and Mr Fayemi were invited but they were reportedly absent though it was not stated why they missed the event.
On education
Segun Adewale says it is disturbing that though the state boasts of a high number of professors, it is still poor. He also called for a new syllabus.
“Some courses need to be eradicated completely and entrepreneurship-based courses should be encouraged; the syllabus is archaic and we need to update it”, he said.
Biodun Aluko said, “Our IGR is the people, so we need to beef it up.”
He plans to train and support people with technical skills in order to make education more functional.
Akin Aiyegbusi promised to improve the human capital of Ekiti people by creating wealth through investment in agriculture and tourism. “I am devastated by the level of poverty in the state. If elected, my manifesto is simply to eradicate poverty as a matter of urgency,” said Aiyegbusi.
On security and healthcare
Biodun Aluko said the way to fight corruption is to ensure that jobs are created for the youth. Regarding healthcare, his plan is to create refresher courses for medical practitioners, free healthcare for people between age zero and six and people above 70 years old.
Akin Aiyegbusi promised to increase neighbourhood watch to improve security in the communities and insisted that herdsmen will be permitted under his administration. He also said he will grant women free medical care and ensure primary healthcare are available at short distances.
Segu Adewale said the police will be adequately taken care of to improve security in Ekiti and he plans to make basic healthcare equipment available.
Rebuttal section
None of the three candidates on the debate stage had questions for the other.