The Adegboyega Oyetola Campaign Council has described as absurd, unthinkable and totally unacceptable the boast by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke that he had acquired enough money in hard currencies to buy Osun and its people for the July 16 governorship contest.
In a statement by its Director-General, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, the Campaign Council declared that Osun was not for sale to the highest bidder, just as it noted that on daily basis, the PDP candidate is proving to the Osun electorate that he had nothing to offer.
Adeleke, the PDP candidate, had over the weekend during the party’s Osun Central Campaign rally, said “Osun people, you are the ones to decide. If it is about money, I have enough. I came with plenty money (hitting his pocket with his right hand). And it is not only naira, I came with dollars, pounds and Euro. This time around in Osun, it is fire for fire.”
Reacting to Ademola’s comment, the Oyetola Campaign Council said: “Osun people are not gullible. We have left them in no doubt of the quality our party, the APC and our Administration are made of, including the capacity of our candidate to deliver in the past three and a half years. We have proved through our inclusive governance strategy that our people are our strength and that we do not take them for granted and we will never take them for granted. This explains why in spite of the way the 2018 election went, our administration began infrastructure intervention from Ede, the hometown of the PDP candidate.
“Osun people are enlightened, they know that the state and its citizens are not up for sale to the highest bidder. Therefore, the PDP candidate should keep his money. Or better still, he could deploy those resources to establish industries to provide jobs for the people. This way, he will also be supporting the present Administration’s noticeable efforts in the last three and a half years to industrialise the state and change its narrative as a Civil Service State, to one bubbling with economic activities.
“It is on record that the Oyetola-led administration has since inception taken concrete steps to open up the State for investments, and has been able to attract a number of investments into Osun, contributing to the economic growth of the State.
“We assure the PDP candidate that, like the Administration did to other players in the private sector, we will provide a level playing ground for his business to thrive and ensure Osun and its people derive maximum benefit from the investment”.
The Campaign Council also cautioned Adeleke against overheating the polity with his incendiary comments and violent tendencies, wondering what he meant by saying ‘it’s fire for fire this time around’.
“As a responsible party, we urge Senator Adeleke and his party to embrace peaceful conduct and decorum in their political engagements and electioneering. We must avoid any comment or action that can jeopardise the peace and stability of our state,” the statement added.
