The Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, on Monday, urged the members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to conduct themselves responsibly during the party’s campaign, warning that there should be no bloodshed.

The governor said that all the candidates contesting for the June 20 governorship election are all Ekiti indigenes.”Don’t fight anybody. I don’t want bloodshed,” he said.

Oyebanji spoke on Monday while receiving Mr Henrich Akomolafe, who decamped from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with over 1,000 followers in Ikere Ekiti.

The governor, who said that he was targeting 600,0000 votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, urged the people to go and obtain their voters cards.

He said that the APC would begin its campaign after Ramadan and Lent, when both Muslims and Christians have concluded their fasts.

“I know we have won the election, that is not my problem. We are here because of President Tinubu. We can’t win for him with just 300,000 votes; we need up to 600,000 because some states will be casting over 1 million votes,” he said.

Oyebanji, however, expressed joy for receiving Komolafe, whom he described as a strong politician who has done extremely well for himself in the APC fold.

Also speaking at the event, former governor Mr Ayodele Fayose said that though Oyebanji has won the upcoming election, he is campaigning to ensure that votes for President Tinubu are meaningful.

Fayose, who said he was representing other former governors at the event, said, “I can beat my chest and say we have done well for the people in the last 25 years.”

He described Oyebanji as a good example for other governors to emulate, saying, “You have made the job easier because of your humility and style of governance.”

Speaking on why he left the PDP for the APC, Akomolafe, who was the PDP House of Reps candidate in the 2023 election, said he was impressed by what the governor has done in the few years in office.

“If you look around the country today, you see the good work President Tinubu is doing, then look at my own governor, I moved around on Saturday in the state and was so impressed.

“And I felt like, why would I not be part of the progressive family? I’m also a beneficiary of the Tinubu Renew Hope Agenda. That was what gave me the strong conviction to join the ruling party.

“Our election is in three months, and my coming to APC is to come to support the governor because if you look at it, the governor has already won the election. What we want is to get more votes for him, to pay him back with votes,” he said.