Akin Ogunbiyi declares guber ambition in Accord Party, promises to fix Osun

TIMOTHY AGBOR

After withdrawing his participation in the controversial governorship primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi on Tuesday formally declared interest to prosecute his governorship ambition on the platform of Accord Party for the July 16 governorship election in the state.

Addressing mammoth crowd of supporters who thronged Freedom Park, Osogbo, Ogunbiyi reeled out what he would do differently if voted to govern the state stressing that he would achieve great success despite problematic circumstances.

Ogunbiyi was among other gubernatorial aspirants who had wanted to contest the ticket of PDP with Ademola Adeleke before he announced his withdrawal, about a day to the primary and cited planned rigging and bias of the party leadership for his reasons.

He said he defected to Accord Party to contest the top job in the state because he desired to create sustainable impact and responsible governance in every dimension of the lives of the people adding that "I have been contended against unfairly, cheated and even blatantly robbed, all in my desire to passionately serve my fellow citizens who I dearly love and cherish."

The Accord Party governorship candidate charged residents of the state against collecting money to vote during elections noting that he offered himself to bring wealth to them when elected governor.

"I have solved problems for big enterprises and conglomerates. I have helped to drive growth and prosperity for state governments and even nations. Why will not serve my own people with the talents and experience the Almighty God has gracefully endowed me with? I am a true and proud son of lleogbo in Ayedire Local Government Area of Osun State. I was born in this State and had my foundational education here. Riches do not fascinate me. I believe in wealth creation, creating impact in a leverage way. That is, earning very high returns and functioning at high capacity when utilizing resources and facilities.

"Over the years, I have earned well-deserved reputation for driving the talent life cycle diligently and to the desirable fruition. I, as your leader, will be the champion of progressive development, productive transformation, skill acquisition and drastically improved livelihood. I will build men, women and youths as well be a beacon of honour and integrity. My fellow citizens of Osun State, do not believe in the old and discredited playbook that your mind can be skewed and your actions determined by envelopes of money that is not from hard work and beneficial value-addition.

"We must be guided by democratic norms, and value-adding acts of dedication, not noise, lies, vainglory and empty promises. We will be deliberate and disciplined and encourage every citizen. to take ownership of the Osun Development Project. We will all join hands, set the tone and achieve the urgently needed paradigm shift that will give birth to Osun State of our dreams. A leading State in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"Demagogues promise quick fixes for complex problems. They are constantly pushing back to prevent or stall beneficial progress in order to maintain the status quo. They want to continue to pocket power in order to keep their privileges. They are afraid of change and are therefore, constantly fanning embers of unproductive disagreements, resentments and disunity.

"They distribute money in order to fracture rational thinking and carefully thought-through decisions. Definitely, we have unique and very useful skills in Osun State to enable us develop and grow our economy and drastically improve our well-being. My colleagues and fellow citizens of Osun State, our assets are for productive growth and not for usage to satisfy the whims and caprices of self-serving interests.

"Our domestic debt is also huge and unhealthy. At the end of last year (2021), it was N135billion. Education needs to be strengthened in order to enable citizens maximize their great potentials. Our efforts in the area of education will therefore, focus on the relevant areas which will include science, technology, creativity and innovation.

"We will have compulsory free primary education in Osun State. We are mostly the beneficiary of this project by our well respected statesman and sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo of blessed memory. I am assuring the entire citizens of Osun State of a prudent, effective and results-oriented government. We will by God's grace, transform our State into a thriving, industrialised and modern state," he promised.