The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2024 Ondo State governorship election, Agboola Ajayi, has said the state and its people have not fared well under the ruling All Progressives Congress in the last eight years.
The candidate of the PDP and a former deputy governor of the state made this known to newsmen at a media parley on Friday in Lagos.
He said Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa, who is the candidate of the APC for November 16, 2024 gubernatorial election, had not delivered on his promises.
Ajayi said: “The primary objective of governance is the safety and welfare of the people.
“Any political party that deviates from this avowed principle of governance will definitely get it wrong and become a liability on the people.
“I have a clear vision on how to make it work.”
The candidate of the PDP said late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu left many problems behind and that those problems had worsened under Ayedatiwa, the then deputy governor, who took over after his demise.
“The November 16 governorship election in the state therefore calls for serious consideration as this will determine, shape or mar the fortune of the state in the next four years,” he said.
Expressing disappointment in the conduct and outcome of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State, Ajayi said that democracy would not thrive where a simple exercise of election is turned to an imposition.
According to him, those who are constitutionally empowered to protect Nigerians and ensure that the right things are done during election at every given time must not disappoint voters.
He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies to allow the vote of the people to count in the forthcoming election in Ondo State.
Highlighting his agenda, if elected, Ajayi said his vision was to transform Ondo State into a beacon of sustainable economic development.
He said that his intervention would cover modern infrastructure, efficient transportation, vibrant marine and blue economy, thriving agriculture, robust industrialisation, quality education and affordable health care.
He said his vision would capture comprehensive human development, adequate security, and other components of fundamental objectives and direct principles of state policy as captured in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
Ajayi said: “It is therefore, my mission to harness the state human and material resources to actualise this vision and thereby rescue and redeem the people of the Sunshine State.
“We will rescue the state from the shackles of poverty, oppression, deprivation and insecurity and set them on the path of sustainable development so that the sun will shine again in the State.”
Ajayi said his agenda for the state would focus on Security, Agriculture, Education, Health, Infrastructure, Industry and Marine Economic Development, Rural Development and Environment, Youth, Sports, Social, Women Development and Civil Service.
On education, Ajayi said primary and secondary education would be fully free and tuition in tertiary institutions would be reduced by at least 30 percent.
He added: “We will ensure quality education for economic development, social equity, technological advancement and cultural preservation for sustainable development.
“We shall address this ugly trend in the health sector by providing at least one primary health centre in each of the 203 wards in the state, which will be staffed with trained and dedicated medical personnel.
“The huge infrastructural deficit and poor industrial output in the state is a call for concern.
“We will pay attention to rehabilitation of roads, construction of waterways, provision of rural and urban electrification, enhancement and improvement in clean and pipe borne water delivery for the benefit of our people.
“There will be improvement of the rural road network.
“We will also embark on rural housing schemes.
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“My government will improve tourism development in the state.”
Ajayi, who is a former council boss, said his administration would grant full autonomy to local government areas both in finance and governance.
He said the new PDP administration in the state would prioritise programmes that would ensure the accelerated development of youths and women.
He said: “What is sacrosanct in developing a state like Ondo is the political will of the sitting governor.
“On my own part, the required political will to develop Ondo State is inherent in me and it is already activated.
“We will ensure our people live a better life.
“We enjoyed it.
“We must build a system that can give our people a future that they deserve.
“I can assure you, our four-year government would be like 12 years.”
Speaking, Dr. Eddy Olafeso, the Director General of the Agboola Ajayi Governorship Campaign Organisation, described the PDP candidate as a General in the battle against poverty, denial and hopelessness.
The PDP Chairman in Ondo State, Bakita Bello, said that the party had bounced back and had received many defectors from the ruling APC to win the election.
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