The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, has cautioned some politicians in the state to stop playing politics of strife and whipping up religious sentiments.
His statement is coming on the heels of an alleged insinuation by some politicians in the party that he is being sponsored by Fulani cabals.
Akeredolu alleged that those spreading such rumour against him were bent on causing disunity amongst the Yoruba clan.
He wondered if those who voted for him during the party’s primary election or the people of the state who would vote in the forthcoming governorship election are of the Fulani tribe.
The APC flagbearer spoke at Ilu Tuntun in Okitipupa Local Government Area of the state during his campaign tour to some local government areas.
“Those behind this rumour are all desperate politicians and it is this desperation that is the reason behind the baseless rumour. I am a true son of Yoruba race from Owo in Ondo state, who values service to his people above flimsy sentiments,” he stressed.
“How can people be going around to say I am being sponsored by the Fulani cabal? Are we not of the same political party again? Don’t let people deceive you. It is those who do not want the APC to progress that are trying to cause confusion between us.
“But we will not be deterred. We will strive on to achieve our desired result which is to clinch the seat of the governor at the Government House. APC is capable and together we can do it,” he highlighted.
“Sure Of Victory”
Addressing the people of the town, Mr Akeredolu promised to revisit all the legacies of the former governor of the state, late Olusegun Agagu which he said were abandoned by the Olusegun Mimiko-led administration.
Akeredolu said that although the people of the Southern Senatorial District were still enjoying some of the infrastructures provided by the late governor, he would complete all the abandoned projects in the area.
He described the Southern Senatorial District as home for him and promised to work on some of the moribund industries in the area.
The legal practitioner said that he would ensure that the abandoned Ondo State University of Science and Technology was brought back to life.
According to him, promoting functional education is one of the key agenda of his campaign promises.
Akeredolu boasted that the APC would win Okitipupa in the forthcoming election, saying he was sure of victory.
He said that he was confident that APC would win Okitipupa Local Government Area, even if PDP is able to resolve its internal crisis.
“What we have here in Okitipupa applies generally all over the state, the only advantage Okitipupa has is that the governor before Mimiko, late Governor Olusegun Agagu did a lot of work and their roads here
“So you can see that we are moving faster here because they have better roads but outside that, this is a place where, for instance they have not had light for years, the same applied to the Northern Senatorial District, Akoko where we went. So there is a problem.
“This is a place where teachers have retired, and they have not employed new teachers in the last four years. It applies all over the state
“You heard one Kabiyesi said they used to contribute money to pay teachers, so in terms of education, as it applies to other parts of the state, we are determined to make sure that we have a functional education. We want to promote functional education and it is important, generally over the state
“We also talked about infrastructures and the infrastructures we are saying is going into the villages, so that the roads leading to the farms will be taken up.
“But most importantly to them here is that, the University of Okitipupa is being abandoned, which is unfortunate and I have said so repeatedly, that we must do something about that,” he said, reeling out his manifesto.
