Politics

Oyo: SDP Guber Candidate Endorses Makinde

By Web News 741

By Iyabo Adebisi

Ahead of this governorship and house of assembly election, governorship candidate of Social Democratic Party, SDP, Michael Lana has stepped down his ambition and endorsed the candidacy of Governor Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party.

At a press conference in Ibadan, Mr Lana alleged that some of those at the helm of affairs within the SDP at the state level sold out for a pittance and declared for the opposition without the consent of other stakeholders in the party.

According to him, as a result of that action, other stakeholders decided to take a decision that will be in the best interest of the neglected, aggrieved party members, the candidates and the generality of the people of Oyo State.

Mr Lana concluded that after several consultations, the party stakeholders resolved to align with Governor Seyi Makinde of the PDP.

The statement read in part: “We have also consulted widely. We have talked with some national officers of the Party and my supporters among the trade unions, traditional rulers, market associations and religious bodies.”
“As you are aware, in almost all radio interviews I attended, I was asked whether, as it had become the habit of this party, I too would step down at the end of the day. Believing I was in the midst of ideologically sound members, and knowing myself as a principled person, I always answered in the negative.”
“I believed fervently that my gospel of preaching issues and ideas would earn me the victory that the people of Oyo State deserves.”

“However, events of the past few weeks proved me wrong. Some people believed only in money politics and victory by vote buying. In fact, I became persona non grata, the moment some people within the party realized that monies sourced solely for the purpose of electioneering would not be shared among them.”
“I thank God that this attitude came to the fore now and not after we might have won the election as I wondered what they would have done to the Oyo State treasury. Their interest is not in winning the election and elevating our people from their suffering but in enriching themselves now.”
“Those who contributed to my campaign did so selflessly out of conviction of my character and traits and my desire to serve the people. And even with what we got, we worked tirelessly to make the Party very competitive and grew it to become the fastest growing party and major contender for all elective positions in the State.”
“Now that some of those at the helm of affairs of the Party within the State have sold us out for a pittance and declared for the opposition without our knowledge or consent, we had to sit down and rethink and take a decision that will be in the best interest of the neglected and aggrieved party members, the candidates and the generality of the people of Oyo State that we set out to serve.”
“After several consultations, we resolved that the best thing for Oyo State right now is to align ourselves with a really progressive candidate.

We were in fact captured by an emotional statement by a 70 year old woman who said Governor Seyi Makinde not only paid her pensions promptly but also took care of the aged women and men during the Covid 19 Pandemic.”
“This is the trait of a person that has set out to write his name in history and ensure an upliftment of the downtrodden in our State.”

“After discussing with him, we decided that His Excellency Emeritus Engineer Seyi Makinde needs help from all capable hands within and outside the State to achieve his dreams for our State and we have resolved to assist him in doing this.”

“We have therefore resolved to inform all our teeming supporters to vote massively for His Excellency, Engr. Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday 18th March 2023 and get him elected as Governor of Oyo State.”

In his remark, the People’s Democratic party state chairman, Dayo Ogungbenro warned politicians in the state not to turn the state into battle ground of violence due to their ambition but allow People’s will to decide who will be the governor of the state.

Politics

Michael Lana Joins Oyo Guber Race

By Web News 1504

The race to the oke eebo house in Agodi Ibadan is getting more interesting as the former attorney general and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Mr Michael Lana has signified his intention to vie for the post of the number one citizen of the state.

The lawyer made his intentions known in his office in Ibadan.

He noted that the time to effect positive change was now as the previous government had not been able to give the citizenry the desired result.

Mr Lana explained that without a solid plan before getting into the office, any administration would only be engaging in trial and error projects far below the expectations of the people.

Citing the example of the Lagos State government since 1999 under Senator Bola Tinubu, Mr Lana noted that he had a solid blueprint for his administration right from the onset which subsequent administrations built on.

 “ When you are doing something the same way and you are not achieving the desired to results, then you have to change. But no governor has changed. None of them ever planned what they would do when they get to the government. Only Jagaban. Tinubu had such a plan in 1999 and we can see the blueprint that he puts down is still what is being followed in every ramification.”

The Gubernatorial hopeful said the time was now to look inward and do things differently for the state to attain a greater height and harness all its numerous potentials “In most cases, our people here try to copy whatever they see them doing in Lagos without thinking whether what they are doing in Lagos is good for Oyo State or not. I think we should look inward. My own is to look inward and change the whole system of governance in its entirety”.

He said the failure of subsequent administrations to put the state’s resources to full use had been responsible for the poor condition the state is in at the moment.

The legal luminary noted that if given the opportunity, he would make use of the landmass and natural resources to bring back the lost glory of the pacesetter state which the previous administration had failed to do most especially in the area of power generation.

Yemisi Owonikoko