2024 Poll: I’m in a Hurry to Bundle out APC in Ondo, Says PDP Chieftain

Fidelis David in Akure

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, Mr. Adeolu Akinwumi, has declared that he is so much in a hurry to take over power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming 2024 governorship election in the state.

Akinwumi, who was a former House of Representatives’ aspirant and Special Assistant to former Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, stated this in Akure when he declared his  intention to contest the in the poll on Monday.

He noted that he has the requisite experience to govern the state even as the rotation principle favoured his southern senatorial district. 

Akinwumi, who was also a member of the Atiku/Okowa campaign organisation, expressed his willingness to fight for the survival of the less privileged in the society.

He declared that the APC is a gathering of confused individuals that lack focus, direction and riddled with incomplete ideologies. 

He said: “I am going to contest the Ondo State’s governorship race. I have enough experience of what governance should be. Something of unusual is bound to happen in Ondo State by the way of my aspiration to govern the state come February 2025, by God’s grace.

“Today, I seat before you, gladly to tell you that I am an aspirant for the governorship seat of Ondo State come 2024.

“In this country, we are at a critical stage that calls on well-meaning Nigerians to seat and redefine the process of governance. I am one of the crusaders of generational shift in leadership and this is what I represent, and this is what has inspired my aspiration to be the governor of the state which I am certain that I am going to realise.”

The PDP’s chieftain stressed that nobody could take for granted the potentials in the Nigerian youths that are endowed with robust creative energy.

He said: “For me, my aspiration is not just about the fact that we should give the younger generation a chance I believe that I have what it takes to aspire for this position.

“I served the government of Ondo State under Dr. Mimiko between 2009 and 2011 and I will tell you that I worked closely with the governor because I was a principal aid to the governor and that also gave me an opportunity to known what governance is all about in the state because I have information about the state, the localities and the people of the state and all these things, I want to aggregate together and bring to the table in my aspiration.

“If you look around, you will see the people around adorning the mantra ‘Oya’, which is my campaign mantra. It simply represent a wake-up call, pose a challenge at everyone and it makes us cautious of the fact that the time is now to take up our roles and responsibilities as concerned citizens and stakeholders in Nigeria.

“We’ve had 24 years of uninterrupted democratic reign in Nigeria, which comes under the umbrella of the fourth republic. For Ondo State, since 1999 till date, we’ve had governors in persons of late Adebayo Adefarati, the last Chief Olusegun Agagu, and Dr. Mimiko, who served for eight years and today, the state is under the rulership of Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN. Each of this administrations highlighted come under different political parties.

“My party had the opportunity to rule the state under Agagu and a partial rule under Mimiko who ruled under labour party and towards the end of his second term, he defected to PDP, so, my party can lay claims to some of his achievements as governor in the state.”

Akinwumi stressed that he strongly believed in Ondo’s greatness, saying that the state could become greater under a right leadership with right commitment and sacrifice.

“Now, for me, I will tell you that I am not absolutely pleased with governance in Ondo State because I believe that it is not something we pay lip service to but nonetheless, I will salute the effort of what they’ve done so far even if they appear to me as mediocre performance.

“I am so much in a hurry to bundle out the ruling APC in the state because I see that party as a gathering of confused individuals that have incomplete ideologies and lack direction and focus.

“One of the problems we have is that we need a leader who understands the people, the culture, the orientation, the performance gaps in the system and I think all of these things, I represent.”