Makinde: I Won’t Support Atiku Unless PDP Ensure Fairness

•  Explains why he deserves second term in office

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

Oyo State Governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde yesterday noted that he would not support the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar until the party ensured fairness.

Makinde said his administration has been able to deliver accelerated development to the state in the last three and a half years, adding that his performance justifies his re-election bid.

He made the remarks a live interview session on a radio station in Ibadan, saying with the achievements recorded by the administration across the four service point areas of education, security, health and economic expansion through agribusiness and infrastructure, he deserved to be re-elected by the people of the state.

Asked about the crisis within the PDP at the national level, Makinde said he would only support Atiku if the party did the needful.

According to him, the party must demonstrate that it can ensure fairness and justice within its system before seeking to implement it on the country.

Makinde maintained that if re-elected in 2023, he would go on to deliver Omituntun 2.0, which he said would centre on delivering sustainable development to the people of the state.

He said: “When I was campaigning for election in 2018, I brought out a roadmap and promised the people that it was meant for accelerated development of Oyo State. Now, based on what we have experienced, we have brought another roadmap, but this time round, it is for sustainable development 2023-2027.”

On how the administration has been able to deliver infrastructure that targets its economic expansion programme, Makinde said his government’s idea of infrastructure development has seen over 500 kilometres of road either completed or been constructed.

He maintained that in line with its determination to boost the economy of the state, the government embarked on an effort to link all five zones of the state with quality road infrastructure.

Makinde noted that all these zones “have their uniqueness and what they are bringing to the table for the overall development of the state.

“So far, we have succeeded in linking Ibadan to Iseyin. We are linking Ogbomoso to Iseyin and we are linking Oke-Ogun to Igbo-Ora to Eruwa. And we are linking Eruwa to Ibadan.

He said when his performance is placed side by side with the records of the previous administration, which he said only rehabilitated a few intra-city roads, his government has performed well.

He listed his government’s infrastructural initiatives to include the 65-kilometres Moniya-Iseyin Road, while he said works are ongoing on Ogbomoso-Iseyin, Oyo-Iseyin, Beere-Ona Ara, Ajia-Airport Road with spur to Amuloko, Bembo-Apata roads and the dualisation of the Airport Road, among others.

He explained how his administration has worked assiduously to expand the economy of the state by improving the Ibadan Airport, with the building of a 500,000 litres Aviation Storage and Dispensing Facility.