The 2023 gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Senator Teslim Folarin has berated the leadership style of the Oyo State Governor, Engr Seyi Makinde, describing it as a failure and disappointment to the expectation of the people in the State.
Senator Folarin stated this in his remarks shortly after the inauguration and swearing in ceremony of the 2023 APC campaign council for the presidential and gubernatorial election held at the party’s secretariat, Oke Ado, Ibadan.
According to Senator Folarin, “let me put in on record that we have nothing personal against Makinde, at least he excelled in the private sector, but as a public administrator, the style of leadership he has foisted on Oyo State is a disappointment, particularly his tolerance of thuggery and brigandage. Also, his handling of local government in starving them of funds have been unthinkable, as well as his incessant accusations of civil servants which have been nothing short of embarrassing.
At the meeting of the Afeniferes, in Akure yesterday (on Sunday), Makinde’s deputy sent by him sang, “Asiwaju ni wa’ alluding to an endorsement of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidential bid, much to our delight. Given that, the next step should be for his party’s chairman to come and see our own chairman, Omodewu. Since they are abandoning their presidential candidate and adopting ours, the next thing may be to inform INEC, so that for the presidential elections, they won’t bother with Oyo State next year. Without them we are target in between 80 to 85 per cent for Asiwaju but if they adopt him as their candidate, we can be sure of nothing less than 95 votes for him in Oyo State.
Unlike the incumbent administration in the state, APC government under my administration will not give flimsy excuses to justify failures in education, health, agriculture, security, environment and other sectors of Oyo State. I want to declare that there is no “FAILURE” in our dictionary and our administration will ensure minus zero tolerance for thuggery and violence.
May I use this opportunity to allay the fears of the people of Oke-Ogun that our administration will not insult your sensibilities by turning the agrarian zone of Oyo State to a destitute and beggars’ centre as captured in the manifesto of the present government in the state, instead we shall bring growth and development to the zone. Agriculture is the panacea for sustainable growth and development, therefore we shall leverage on our agricultural potentials to grow Oyo State economy, address food insecurity, and create massive employment opportunities for millions of unemployed youths of Oyo State. Therefore, Oke-Ogun is a gold mine, not Centre For Destitute and Beggars’.” He said.
The third term Senator, however, charged party faithfuls to aggressively pursue the, ‘Operation Win Your Polling Unit’ strategy, by ensuring personal responsibility for winning their polling units, adding that the party intends to run an issue based campaign to win the election.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the State Chairman, Hon Isaac Omodewu thanked members of the committee that worked day and night to come up with the 3,333-strong Campaign Council, especially Asiwaju Yemi Aderibigbe, adding that some other people’s name will still be added.
“Let nobody think they are not recognized because their names are not on the campaign council list. If your name is not yet on the list and you know you are good in a particular area, let us know. In the meantime, let’s continue the work with joy wherever we are, don’t think you are not valued because your name is not on the campaign council.” He assured.
The campaign council inauguration ceremony had in attendance numerous party leaders and candidates from all the geo political zones of the State.
The campaign council had Dr. Isiaka Kolawole as the Director-General while Asiwaju Yemi Aderibigbe is his deputy among other notable and experienced politicians that make up the list.
