Ahead of the governorship election in Ondo State, scheduled for November 2024, notable leaders in the state have urged the leadership of major political parties to give their backing to aspirants from Ondo South.
It would be recalled that at the close of work on Wednesday which was the deadline for the purchase of the forms, no fewer than 16 aspirants picked the Nomination and Expression of Interest forms ahead of the primary election.
Speaking on Thursday on behalf of the leaders in his Lagos office, a popular lawyer and former Board Member of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Benson Enikuomehin, made the call, appealing, however, to the leadership of the party to support Oke, who hails from Ilaje, in Ondo South to emerge the next governor in the state.
Enikuomehin argued that the incumbent Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa and every other aspirant were eminently qualified but stated that out of them all, Oke would guarantee the ruling APC an easy inroad to the seat of power.
The former member of the Board of NDDC, while noting that Ilaje Local Government qualifies Ondo State as an oil-producing state, however, said notwithstanding, there would be need to go for persuasion and moral adoration to win the support of other people.
This was just as he pointed out that Governor Aiyedatiwa had constitutional constraints due to the provision of the constitution that would not allow him another term in office, warning that one of the ways for APC to lose the coming election in the state was to give its ticket to the incumbent and thereby denied Ilaje the eight-year tenure in office.
“Aiyedatiwa is thrown up by providence. He was Deputy Governor and you know in a plane, you have a pilot and a co-pilot so that if one sleeps, the other takes over so that the plane will not crash.
“So when his boss left the scene. Are we going to say that he should not show interest? I will say no. But, when you look at your people, that is why sacrifice comes in. Will my decision be for the majority or the minority? If your decision is not for majority but it will benefit you, it will not make sense for me to do away with the interest of the majority.
“The leadership of the party should look at the larger perceptive. Assuming the eight years will be given to him (the Governor) to stay in the saddle, that will be understandable as it were.
“But, as of now, Ondo South members are yearning for their unbroken eight years in the state and they are not negotiating for it,” he said.
“From my interaction with the people, they are saying any party that short-changed them, they will vote against the party.
“Now, one of the ways for APC to quickly throw away this beautiful baby that they have been nursing for the past years is to see how they will shortchange Ondo South.
“That’s one of the ways to throw it away. And I tell you, make no mistake about it, I will mobilize people and friends to say that we are not slaves. Let them not say, at least somebody has gotten power for a year, the thing, ‘na’ enough now, if he has the opportunity to do the thing for another four years.
“I wish that APC will look at its house and look well in order not to undermine Ondo South because the population of Ondo South is thick. infact, in their voting strength, it is enormous. The central has the higher percentage but voting strength is not to be undermined.
“There is banana peel on the ground and PDP is watching. Even though they are sleeping, they are not dead. PDP is not a toy party and we must be careful of the sentiment of the people,” he added.
Speaking further, Enikuomehin, who is also founding secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikorodu Branch and member of NEC of the NBA, stressed that Oke had the antecedent and background to win the election for the party this time around aside the fact that he had contested the governorship election in the past, just as he sadly noted that the Ilaje indigenes were now considered a forgotten people since Dr. Olusegun Agagu left office as governor of the state.
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He urged the people in the state to forget about sentiments and ensure that someone in the mode of Oke who had the courage and ability to perform was voted as the next governor, come 2024.
“Dr. Olusegun Agagu, common gentlemen, was the one who opened us up, we were a people forgotten, we were a people not to be considered. That man constructed the road from Igbokoda to Araromi, about 40km road, the Ofara Bridge, the Aboto Bridge, the longest bridge in Ondo State is the one that goes through Alapa. The man constructed it during his second term and towards the end of his tenure.
“He was the one that linked Okitipupa to Irele, that’s the second longest bridge in Ondo State.
“I talk with you this morning with sadness, go to my village, Enikanoselu, no light, you can’t go there by road, no road, no water, the sea is almost taken Ayetoro away.
“My younger brother here is from Ayetoro, his family house is already in high seas. Common, was this water not taken Bar Beach away before? You know Ahmadu Bello Way, some people came up and they have built Atlantic City. The one the water took away, they took it back.
“Common, we should go back and have someone who has the courage and ability to so.
“Let’s remove sentiments, let’s look for someone who can work into any office. So far, if we need to plead, we will plead, if we need to talk, we will talk, if we need to persuade, we will persuade.
“Like the man (Olusola Oke) said, he said he would introduce agriculture. I never saw it in that version. When he explained, I was taken in. He said he was not going to do agriculture the way they are doing it now. He said he would build the roads, and houses in those areas as well as put solar lights there. He equally said he would build barracks for the Amotekun, that Amotekun has no business being in town. It would be in the forest keeping guard and securing the place,” he stated.
TheWitness
