Before a mammoth crowd in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Monday, the Action Alliance (AD) governorship candidate, Chief Olusola Oke, and his running mate, Alhaji Ganny Dauda, were presented the flags of the party just as the legal tussle threatening to undermine his victory at the November 26 election was laid to rest before the cheery crowd.
At the occasion which was witnessed by leaders of the AD in Nigeria, including its National Leader, Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa, the National Chairman, Chief Joseph Avazi, and other top officials, the National Legal Adviser for AD who is already before the court challenging the emergence of Oke and his deputy, told the people of the state that there is no more crisis in AD.
His words: “There was a court action based on a misunderstanding on the appropriateness of Chief Olusola Oke’s emergence because his victory is sure. We don’t want some people to go to court after his victory to challenge him.
“This was why I was in court. And the fact that I am here addressing this mammoth crowd today shows that there is no more crisis in the party, no cracks within the party, we are one indivisible party.
“There are several means of getting a case out of court; by abandonment; by withdrawal and by discontinuance. There is no more case in court as we have resolved the issues raised and I can assure you that Olusola Oke will be the next governor of this state. Oke means mountain in Yoruba language, like his name, he is on top. Ondo State will be on top, Yorubaland is on top. No matter how tall an Iroko tree may be, it cannot be taller than the mountain. Olusola Oke is on top and he will win, ” he told the elated crowd who thronged the Democracy Park venue of the rally.
In his address, the National Leader of AD, Senator Akinfenwa, described Oke as the inheritors of the Awolowo mores.
“For 13 years, we have been in the wilderness, now it has pleased God to give us a leader that is capable of putting Ondo back on tracks.
“If you look at the PDP, it is full of crises, people deceive people, they are at each other’s throats. The APC too is not faring better, they are an amalgam of strange bed fellows who cannot deliver on their promises. But we are happy today that the party of Papa Obafemi Awolowo, that of Papa Adekunle Ajasin and Papa Adebayo Adefarati is here and I want you all to vote for the AD.
“If you vote for Olusola Oke, he will replicate all those good programmes of old, he will revamp our education, bring back the revival of our agricultural sector, education shall also be brought back to reckoning,” the AD leader assured.
Earlier in his short remarks, the AD National Chairman assured that the party was poised to form the next government in the Sunshine State, given the spontaneous show of love for a party that merely came into reckoning in barely two months.
According to him, “a new dawn is now breaking in Ondo State and AD is set to bring back the lost glory of the Sunshine State. We have ruled this state before, this is our second coming and we shall not disappoint you”.
In his acceptance speech, Oke assured that under his watch, Ondo State would be better and the people would thrive.
“Some people have been out on campaigns of calumny against me that I will abandon most of the projects I will meet on ground. I want to assure you all that we are not out to destroy whatever we meet but to build on whatever we meet on ground. Today, Ondo State is undergoing a difficult situation, all our industries are dead and there is abject poverty in the land
“The priority of my government shall be the good of the people of Ondo State. I greet our mothers, we shall ensure we give you life abundance, we shall give you money to trade. Our workers shall receive their salaries and other entitlements as at when due.
“Our youths shall be gainfully employed as we shall wake up all our dead industries and make them functional again.
“I want our people to be wary of those who pelt you with hardships, yet ask you to vote for them, they can never give you good governance but hardship compounded.
“I will be in a hurry to deliver good governance, all our dead industries will be completed in a hurry, we shall all laugh and be glad that we vote for the best party, the Alliance for Democracy, into power on November 26, ” Oke assured the crowd.
While further affirming that he would be dedicated to the people’s welfare and be accountable to them at all times, he pleaded with the people to ensure that they all come out on November 26 to vote for him and AD.
At the occasion, thousands of members of the Action Alliance (AA) defected to AD.
Oke and Dauda were later presented flags of the party.