Barely 48 hours to the governorship election across the country, 10 political parties and 20 deregistered parties in Ogun State have adopted Olufemi Oguntoyinbo of the New Nigeria People’s Party as their preferred candidate.
The adoption was made at ONTEC Event Centre, Abiola Way on Thursday in Abeokuta, the state capital.
The parties included African Democratic Congress, Labour Party, African Action Congress, Action Alliance, Allied Peoples Movement and Social Democratic Party.
Others were the National Rescue Movement, All People’s Party, Action Democratic Party, Boot Party, Atiku Support Group.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the parties were represented by John Bolaji, Sokeye Oluwalogbon, Rasaq Sonde, Sefiu Amusa Sefiu, Sunday Bolaji and others.
In their separate remarks, on behalf of others, John Bolaji and Bolaji Sunday said they took the decision to rescue Ogun State from its present state.
They said: “The state has been stagnated for many years in the hands of the previous administrations and we must not squander this opportunity that democracy has given us.
“We believe that to right these wrongs, there is need for us to form a virile coalition with a party that can dislodge this administration which has proved to be lacking in development.
“That is why, after many meetings with major stakeholders, even outside of our party, we arrived at Olufemi Oguntoyinbo of the New Nigerian People’s Party.”
Bolaji and Sunday said the decision was not based on any other thing than development of the state and Oguntoyinbo’s antecedent.
According to them: “Oguntoyinbo is not someone who will promise what he won’t do.
“He is as straight as that.
“We enjoin all to go out enmasse and vote for him.
“In the last 46 months, governance has become something else in Ogun State.
“To save us, we are calling on everybody that have attained the voting age that on Saturday, March 18, 2023, we will make a decision that will determine the trajectory of our state for the next four years.”
In his reactions, Oguntoyinbo thanked all the leadership and members of the parties that adopted him for believing in his competency, ability and capacity to move Ogun State forward.
He pledged to transform Ogun State for better, promising that he would not to let the people of the state down.