A group of concerned citizens, under the aegis of League of Progressives for Good Governance in Oyo State has recommended the governorship candidate of the Accord, Oloye Adebayo Adelabu as the best candidate for the March 18 governorship election in the state.
Speaking during a press conference held in Ibadan, leader of the group, Kunle Sanda, said Adelabu is the most competent candidate among all the contestants vying to govern the state.
He stated that Adelabu will run an all-inclusive government and won’t be enemy to Federal Government.
He called on the people to come out enmasse to elect him as the next governor.
Secretary of the group, Lekan Adeyemo, picked holes in the policies of Governor Seyi Makinde, who is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
These as the group insists that the decision was a product of extensive consultation and antecedents of the candidate.
They noted that the group has based it’s decision on the ideology of good governance, which is focused on ensuring a paradigm shift in governance.
“We want to state that this press conference has become imperative in view of our concern for the Saturday, March 18 governorship election and the need for the good people of Oyo State to get the choice of our next governor right this time around.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that we are at a critical moment in the history of Oyo State where, as a people, we must collectively reflect on the currently pitiable state of our dear state and come together to rescue it from the brink of precipice. It is nothing but an understatement that we are at trying times in Oyo State, owing to bad governance as well as lack of vision and the requisite capacity to lead the state out of the doldrums.
“Rather, Oyo State has been taken off the radar of development and it has retreated among comity of states in virtually all developmental indices. Sadly, the state widely acknowledged for its pacesetting status has fallen in the hands of a government that lacks proper understanding people’s priorities but rather, doing things by impulse, with the resultant effect of not making the expected impacts in the life of the ordinary citizen. Without mincing words, governance has gone on holiday in Oyo State!
“It is this unfortunate situation that has motivated us into coming out to alert our dear people of Oyo State that we must not allow things to continue to like this. We’ve got to make a choice through our votes this Saturday and it should be stated that the incumbent governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, who is seeking a reelection has nothing more to offer us in Oyo State, as every patriotic citizen of the state has seen his apparent limitation in term of capacity and capability to deliver on his mandate.
The group stated that Seyi Makinde pledged to rule Oyo State with the fear of God, deliver good governance and return the state to its hitherto pacesetting status but failed in his promises.
They alleged that Oyo State has been groping under an unprecedented debt burden, saying “Seyi Makinde’s administration has gone on borrowing spree in spite of proclaiming improvement of the state’s internally-generated revenue from N1.7 billion to N3.3 billion and executing its so-called projects through alternative project funding approach.
“It is saddening and shocking that the state’s economy has been pushed to the point where overdrafts are being taken to pay salaries while several billions of naira are being wasted on powering street lights with diesel generators after the removal of the cheaper and environmental-friendly solar-powered street lights. Suffice to say that our tertiary institutions are also being run through consultants, an aberration which has stifled the development of education in our state in the last four years.
“Also, Seyi Makinde has done everything possible to frustrate the much-desired local government autonomy owing to the pilfering of local government allocations through phony and fraudulent projects being executed by the state government under the cover of Joint State-Local Government Allocation Committee (JAC). This has, no doubt, brought local governments to their knees while no marked development has been recorded in the councils in the last four years.
While restating their confidence in Adelabu, they hinted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Senator Teslim Folarin is an interloper in the progressive circle.
“To us, the standard bearer of the ACCORD party, Chief Bayo Adelabu, is a candidate to beat and he has the progressive ideology to make our state progressing accordingly.
“Indeed, it is only by electing Adelabu, a former Deputy Governor of Central Bank, with vast experience in corporate governance and development, that our dear state can be saved from imminent collapse. We must also state that the peace which has eluded the state will return if he is elected governor of Oyo State.
“Adelabu, no doubt, represents the true face of progressive and will provide a platform for the progressives who have been put in disarray by the likes of Teslim Folarin and Seyi Makinde who are confirmed conservatives but who have been deceiving the people with their fake progressive mantra and disposition. In fact, it could be safely said that PDP and APC have been hijacked by conservatives, going by the characters in those political parties.
“Aside this, voting for either Seyi Makinde or Teslim Folarin is endorsing the continuation of the current reign of anarchy, brigandage and impunity in Oyo State. We must not allow our dear state to continue with that unfortunate renown.
“Another sad development in our body polity today is the ongoing series of alignments, realignments and endorsement of Makinde and Folarin by some political parties and politicians, akin to the transfer season in the ever-exciting world of soccer. These characters who are falling over one another to endorse and adopt these two candidates are not being motivated by the love of the state but by the pecuniary benefits, essentially financial, which they stand to gain through their macabre dance. If our dear state will witness growth and development as it did during the Ajimobi administration, the likes of Seyi Makinde and Teslim Folarin must be stopped, notwithstanding their desperation to mount the saddle from May 29, 2023.
“A vote for Bayo Adelabu is a vote for peace, progress, economic transformation, infrastructural development and social emancipation. We are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that he has what it takes to lead Oyo State as governor and we are using this opportunity to appeal to the good people of Oyo State to come out en masse on Saturday, March 18 to vote for Bayo Adelabu for a new Oyo State with life in abundance.”
