Ondo election: Watch out for only three aspirants in APC – Yele Omogunwa
Senator Yele Omogunwa has condemned most of the gubernatorial aspirants under the APC in Ondo State as lacking in integrity. In a statement issued by him, he singled out for vilification those aspirants under the auspices of the Unity Forum that disputed the announced concensus candidate of the group after initialky pledging to abide by the result of the screening committee set up by the Forum.. Senator Omogunwa was the chairman of the committee. According to him, all the ten aspirants in the group “openly with their God-given mouth pledged to support whoever was recommended.” He lamented that after the recommendation, only one of the aspirants, Olarewaju Kazeem, accepted the result.
So far twelve aspirants have obtained the nomination form under the APC. Five of them are from Owo, the home town of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. They are Akeredolu himself, Bukola Adetula, Olayide Odunlami, Awodeyi Akinsehinwa and Mrs. Jumoke Ajasin-Anifowoshe. Two others are from the northern senatorial district and they are Pastor Segun Abraham and Nat Adojutelegan. Five are from the southern senatorial district and they include D. I. Kekemeke, Olusola Oke, Olusola Iji, Ifedayo Oyedele and Jimi Odimayo. There are none from the central senatorial district. But according to Senator Omogunwa, “The best of my estimation is there are only 3 serious Aspirants in APC. They are Governor Rotimi Akeredolu SAN, Chief Olusola Alexander Oke and D. I. Kekemeke.”
The Senator derided those who claim to have been endorsed by the powers-that-be, with a veiled reference to Ife Oyedele believed to be his close associate. “Let’s see where the endorsement would take the Endorsees who claim they are foundation members and constitution drafters of APC to in the final analysis,” he said cynically.
The Senator lost his seat to the PDP during the last national assembly elections when Governor Akeredolu sponsored a candidate against him under the AA party thus splitting the votes of APC. But he said that Akeredolu was better than many of the aspirants except that the Governor had, “reckless approach and he is not getting it right.”
It will be recalled that Chief Olusola Oke was the disputed consensus candidate of the Unity Forum while Kekemeke operated independently of the Forum. While the ten Unity Forum adpirants were waiting for endorsenent by the Forum, Kekemeke went straight to the fiield and has been on the field for over a year before the crumbling of the consensus effort of the Forum. That has given him an edge over the others who did not begin to activate their structures until about a month ago when the consensus arrangement failed..
Apart from his early start, Kekemeke is adjudged as the most qualified aspirant having served as a minority leader in the house of assembly, as chairman of the National Examinations Council, as attorney general and commissioner for justice, as commissioner for works, housing, lands and transport and as secretary to the state government. He was the pioneer state secretary of the PDP and pioneer state chairman of the APC. Chief Olusola Oke on the other hand, is an experienced gubernatorial contestant having contested unsuccessfully three times in three different political parties, namely the PDP, the APC and the AD. He was a commissioner in the Niger Delta Development Commission and a national legal adviser of the PDP. He has, however, not been privileged to serve at the executive level in any government from local to the national level..
Akeredolu, the incumbent Governor, is believed to have shed a lot of popularity weight and lost touch with the majority of the members of his party.. If Omogunwa’s postulation is anything to go by, therefore, the man to watch in this election is D. I Kekemeke.
Senator Omogunwa painted three possible scenarios that may occur in the course of events. According to him, some aspirants might collaborate, some APC members might be disenchanted and decide to vote for the opposition, or some of the desperate aspirants might choose to go and contest under a “vacant political party.”
Like the Biblical King Saul, God has rejected Akeredolu, says Pastor Giwa
Ahead of the governorship election in Ondo State, the senior pastor of Awaiting The Second Coming Of Jesus Christ Ministry, Adewale Giwa, has advised governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to reserve his energy on something else and forget about his second term ambition.
The cleric specifically said the Spirit of God no longer lives in Alagbaka government house.. Like King Saul, God has rejected the Governor.
Addressing some journalists in Akure on Saturday, Giwa said governor Akeredolu had acted contrary to God’s will.
He said,” Alagbaka government house is now being surrounded by darkness. The Spirit of God left Alagbaka House the day governor Akeredolu intentionally increased tuition fees from N25,000 to N150,000.
“I don’t know who advised him to do so, but whoever asked him to implement such inhuman idea has led him astray.
“You can’t claim to love people and at the same time inflicting pain on them. What kind of love is that?
“I learnt the governor is running around and dashing out money to some religious leaders and politicians. It’s too late to do so, nobody can save him because those parents who cannot afford N150,000 for tuition fees are angry.
“These parents have cried in pain to God to send Akeredolu’s government packing. I advise the governor to stop wasting the resources of Ondo State on ‘paperweight politicians’ who cannot win their wards or polling units.
“The only person in the state that governor Akeredolu depends on is former governor, Olusegun Mimiko. Can he help him when the majority of Ondo people have already made up their minds?
“Any governor that fails to walk on the paths of PA Adekunle Ajasin and Baba Adebayo Adefarati is not worthy to be re-elected.
“If you rig yourself in, God will rig you out. Nobody can play God, and this nonsense must stop.”
I am inspired by Awolowo and Ajasin – Kekemeke
Kekemeke
The leading gubernatorial aspirant under the APC in Ondo State, Hon. Isaac Kekemeke has disclosed his source of inspiration in contesting for the governorship seat in the State. According to him, “Awolowo is an inspiration to me; Ajasin is an inspiration to me. I am taking after them in political programming, administration, competence, character and commitment to the welfare of the people.” He explained that both great men were “planners , all the time focusing on the people, the grassroots people.” Kekemeke was exchanging views with a group of Ilaje supporters led by Otunba Sylvester Ikuojamoye that paid him a visit in Akure on Saturday.
He recalled that Chief Obafemi Awolowo introduced free educàtion and free health services in the Western Region in the early fifties at a time his critics thouggt it impossible from the funding point of view. “As a matter of fact,” he explained,” it was actually ambitious but through political will and prudent spending, he made a success of the programmes, shooting the Western Region ahead of the other regions in education and health care services.
He also recalled that Chief Awolowo went beyond the two programmes to introduce four cardinal programmes under the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in 1979. Accorfing to him, they were free education, free health care, full and gainful employment, and integrated rural development. He explained further that Awolowo conceived the programmes for the country optimistic that he would become the president and hence be able to implement them with federal financial might. “When he was not able to make it to the presidency,” the former secretary to the state government explained, “his five governors went ahead to implenent the programmes in their respective States of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Bendel and Ondo..One of the Governors was our own Pa Michael Adekunle Ajasin. Incidentally Pa Ajasin it was that prepared the blueprint for the free education programme.”
Explaining his own programnes, Kekemeke said, “Inspired by these legends, i have identified six cardinal programmes on which i base my blueprint for the development of our State. These are educational development, health care development, agricultural development, industrial development, tourism development, and entrepreneurship promotion and skills acquisition. Our own programmes are, therefore, a modification of those of Awolowo in such a way as to reflect the realities of our time.
“Our own education programme includes free and compulsory primary and secondary education, award of scholarships, and granting of students loans. In our health care programmes, we have free health services for pregnant women, children from birth to age five and seniors from age 65. We have Ibile hospitals for the promotion of our indigenous medical system. We have primary health centres for all the 203 wards in the State. And we will build a pharmaceutical industry for the manufacturing of basic drugs to eliminate the incidence of fake drugs and promote industrialization.”
“As you can see,” he continued, “instead of full and gainful employment, we have enrepreneurship development. Instead of integrated rural development, we have agriculture, and under our own agricultural programme, we will have civil farmers who will be farmers that will be on salary while on their own farms. Then we added industrialization and tourism.”
In response to a question, he said, “I agree that implementing these programnes would pose challenges. But that precisely is why we must embark on them. Running a government is not a tea party, it is a challenging task. Or who says Chief Awolowo and Pa Ajasin found it easy in their days? All that we need is political will and creative financial engineering, and I dare say we will be up to the task. If our political fathers could do it, we must have no excuses. In any case, of what use is a government that has no definite programmes on which the people can hold it accountable?”
Otunba Ikuejamoye, the head of the group had earlier commended the former attorney general and commissioner for justice for the mature way he had been conducting his election campaign. According to him, the conduct had been peaceful, grassroots oriented and devoid of mudsligging. He recalled that while the other aspirants were waiting for endorsement, the pioneer state chairman of the party went ahead and down to the grassroots to sell himself. “The result is that today your presence is being felt all over the State,” he testified. Otunba Ikuejamoye expressed his happiness that the Ilaje/Eseodo federal constituency is being conspicuously represented in the gubernatorial race and assured the former commissioner for works, housing, lands and transport of the full support of Ilaje people.
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Akeredolu has tried his best – Kekemeke
The leading APC gubernatorial aspirant in Ondo State, Chief Isaac Kekemeke, has stated that in so far as he was concerned, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu had tried his best for the State. The former Secretary to the State Government was addressing his representatives in all the local government areas who had converged in Akure on Tuesday to receive campaign materials. According to him, “Akeredolu has tried his best. He has laboured and sweated. He has stretched himself to the linit. We can’t ask him to perform beyond his best. But his best can only tar roads. He best can’t build schools and hospitals. His best can’t industrialize the State. His best has left us in poverty. His best has escalated school fees in our universities. He best has dropped out our children from schools. His best has left us in hunger and penury. His best has left our youths jobless. His best has divided our party. His best has excluded our party members from governance. His best has turned our songs of victory to lamentations of despair. No, our party can do better. Our party is not in short supply of better manpower We must redeem our image. We must show the people of Ondo State that APC is not a fsilure. We must let the people know that our party can do things right. We must turn our image around. We can redefine leadership and offer a new deal. We can do things better. We can perform better. We can make the difference. We can unite our party again. I brought us together as pioneer State chairman. So, I know how to unite us And I can unite us again.”
Continuing, he said, “I will mobilize you to give our children free and compulsory education to secondary school level, slash the fees in our universities and polytechnics, turn tourism into money spinner, make agriculture more productive and attractive by creating civil farmers, farmers that will be on salary while farming. Yes, we can do new things to bring new life and new standards of living. Together we can truly make the change.”
With excitement and ovation, the representatives received the news of the purchase of express of interest and nomination forms by the former aftoney general and commissioner for justice. Presenting the forms to the gathering, Kekemeke recalled with pride the honour done him in the national Secretariat as a pioneer member of the national executive council of the party. Apart from the general warm reception that he recieved, he said the forms were personally presented to him by the national organizing secretary who was the highest officer around.
The nomination form was later signed by nominators across the local government areas. The representatives went back with fifteen different types of campaign materials among which are posters, flyers, fez caps ant t-shirts, school bags and calenders.
Who elections: We know only three of the aspirants – APC Southwest chairman
The national vice chairman of the APC, Pastor Kole Oluwajana has congratulated Chief D. I. Kekemeke for obtaining the expression of interest and nomination forms to contest for the gubernatorial candidacy of the APC in Ondo State. He was addressing Kekemeke and his supporters in Abuja on Monday upon the presentations of the forms to him. Acknowledging the contribution of Kekemeke to the formation of the APC and as the pioneer State Chairman I the party, he assured the former Secretary to the State Government of his full support upon his emergence as the party’s candidate.
The national vice chairman who in that capacity is the Southwest Chairman of the party pointed out that of all the APC aspirants, “We know only three. They are Kekemeke, Akeredolu and Sola Iji “
Addressing the press after obtaining the form, Kekemeke recalled his days as a member of the national executive committee of the party. He said he had been on the field since February 2018, undertaking massive State–wide consultation, sensitization and recruitment to determine the viability or otherwise of his aspiration to become Governor of Ondo State come February 2021. “The feedback from the exercise,” according to him, “has been overwhelmingly inspiring and so, today I return here with nostalgia to take the first formal step of a divinely orchestrated journey of commitment and selfless service to the people of Ondo State in the capacity of Governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.”
He said, his vision was “to work with all patriots to create a prosperous and peaceful Ondo State where citizens are productively engaged to enable them live meaningful, comfortable and decent lives.”
Enunciating his programs, Kekemeke said, “It is time to once again deliver free and compulsory primary and secondary education for the ultimate benefit of our State. It is high time we subsidized tertiary education and bring back scholarships for hardworking students. It is time again to provide quality and affordable health care.;It is time to invest heavily in Agriculture as in the days of the Farm Settlements, through our innovative Civil Farmer programme to ensure self-sufficiency in food production, earn meaningful income and provide the raw materials for our agro-based industries. It is time to maximally explore the tourism potentials of our State for wealth creation, and to vigorously pursue entrepreneurship promotion and skill development.”
He appealed to the leadership of the party to adopt the direct primary system for the Ondo State gubernatorial primary elections.
Kekemeke is the only alternative to Akeredolu
D.I Kekemeke
The chairman of the Strategic Mobilization and Communication Committee of Lekeleke Movement the campaign outfit of Hon. D. I. Kekemeke, Hon. Demola Ijabiyi, has advocated Kekemeke as the only viable replacement for Akeredolu as the APC gubernatorial candidate in the forthcoming election. According to him, “The other aspirants are simply not on ground.” He, therefore, appealed to the APC members to vote massively for him in the primary election scheduled for 10th July, 2020.
In a press statement released on Monday, Hon. Ijabiyi said that no aspirant had shown as much seriousness as Kekemeke and yet none was as qualified or as experienced as him. According to him, “Virtually all of them made the mistake of waiting to be selected as a consensus candidate and surprisingly each believed strongly in their own success in that regard. They unwittingly left the field open to Kekemeke while waiting to be chosen. They did nothing to reach out to our members. They refused to work. And when the consensus arrangement crumbled, they all went into the panic mode. Some started to establish emergency structures, hiring offices less than two months to the primaries; while some began to hurriedly fall back on their old delapidated structures. To me, it all shows a poor sense of judgment and lack of seriousness.”
“Anybody who wants to be governor must show commitment. He or she must demonstrate foresight and preparedness. There must be evidence of determination, organization and approach based on tested strategy. There shouldn’t be emergency candidates. And I am sure party members are watching.”
Hon. Ijabiyi further observed in the statenent that, “None of the aspirants except Kekemeke has prepared any blueprint for the development of the State. None except Kekemeke has canvassed any innovative or creative ideas. None has demonstrated knowledge of the needs of the State. None has offered hope to the badly marginalized and sidelined members of the party. None has remembered the ignored elders of our party. None has focused attention on the challenges of winning the general elections. He then wondered what these aspirants were doing in the gubernatorial race.
Continued the statement, “With the disenchantment against the incumbent Governor, not just among party members but more importantly among the populace of Ondo State, and with a formidable opposition to contend with, our party must choose a credible, popular and viable candidate in the person of Hon. Isaac Kekemeke. As things stand, he has no close rival. In terms of experience, he has served meritoriously in top capacities in the government and in the party. In terms of all other paremeters of leadership assessment, he stands out from the crowd. And I challenge any aspirant that feels superior to him to come out and tell us the specific area of superiority. Our party cannot afford to present its.second best. Incidentally, our members have been appreciative of this as there is now Lekeleke Movement in every nook and cranny of the State.”
Group berates Akeredolu for denying celebration of Oshiomhole’s removal
A youth group in Ondo State, APC Youth For Positive Transformation (OSAYPT), has described the statement in a press release from Ondo State Government credited to the commissioner for information, Donald Ojogo, in the Nation Newspaper dated June 19, 2020 that, “there was no celebration in Ondo State over Oshiomole’s suspension” as untrue. In a press statement issued in Akure, the OndoState chairman of the group, Comrade Abiola Adewumi wondered why people would deny what they did openly with many people as witnessess. According to him, “There were celebrations in various locations around Alagbaka Government House and in a popular nite club at ShopRite, Akure. There was celebration at Klick Connect. the company of Chief Alex Ajipe a crony of the Governor. Most of the Governor’s aides were seen everywhere buying and drinking assorted drinks and shouting ‘Aketi 4+4’ especially in the Alagbaka area. So why are they denying?”
Abiola said that the supporters of the Governor also stormed the social media celebrating the suspension of the embattled national chairman. He denied Ojogo’s allegation that people were creating disaffection within the ranks of APC and in the State by saying there was celebration. He insisted that the people had merely said what they saw.
“From the moment the court judgment was announced,” he said, “we saw them jubilating till late night. Akeredolu supporters don’t hide their hatred for Comrade Adams Oshiomole anywhere..They have always believed that with Oshiomhole as chairman, Akeredolu does not stand any chance of winning the primary elections.’
Abiola thanked the National Working Committee of the party for the direct primary method introduced to conduct primary elections in APC. He said that only the candidate that emerged through it could be accepted by all.
Education must be free – Kekemeke
A leading gubetnatorial aspirant under the APC in Ondo State, Chief D. I. Kekemeke has expressed his determination to make every child of the State take education for granted. “With me as governor,” he said, “no child will be out of school due to financial difficulties.”
The former Secretary to the State Government continued: “Education will not only be free up to the secondary school level, it will also be compulsary.’
Chief D. I. Kekemeke was addressing a group of students, Ondo Students for Progress (OSP) during a courtesy call on him in his office in Akure.. Led by its Coordinator, Mr. Ollubunmi Adebayo, , the group had come to express their support for the former attorney general and commissioner for justice. Responding to the grouo’s appeal for adequate funding for education, Chief Kekemeke said, “I have passion for education. That is why I have made it a priority in my blueprint for Ondo State. Under my stewardship as governor, tertiary education will become affordable. I will slash down the present fees drastically.”
Explaining further, the former commissioner for works, housing, lands and transport said that money is not a limiting factor but political will. According to him, “There is nothing like government money. The money belongs to the people. What they call government money belongs to you and I. It belongs to we the people. Which parent will deny his child education when he has money in the bank? Which parent would not even borrow, if necessary, to educate his child? What applies to parents must apply to the government. Government must use the people’s money to educate the children of the people. So, the question of any child being out of school due to inability to pay should not arise at all.”
Continuing with his position on education, Kekemeke declared that his administration would award scholarships to reward merit and introduce students loans. “Our children must go to school, they must be educated. There is no other way, ” he insisted.
Earlier, the group had lamented what it called the “exhorbitant fees” in tertiary institutions in the State. Speaking on its behalf, the groups coordinator, Olubunmi Adebayo pleaded with Kekemeke as an APC chieftain and leader to intervene on the issue and cause the government to review the fees downwards.
From the archives: Akinkugbe sacrificed to save lives –Obasanjo Published October 26, 2018
Olufemi Atoyebi, Ibadan
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday, described Emeritus Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe as a committed and dedicated Nigerian who contributed immensely to the development of the country in medical practice, governance, business and education.
Obasanjo spoke at an event held in Ibadan to mark Akinkugbe’s hanging of the stethoscope and to celebrate his 85th birthday. The event was also used to celebrate 50 years of Akinkugbe as a professor and 60 years in medical practice.
Also at the ceremony were the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole; former Vice-Chancellors, University of Ibadan, Prof. Ayodele Falase, and Prof. Kayode Oyediran; a former governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko; foremost industrialist, Oba Otudeko; Chairman, African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc, Dr Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu; and Chairman of Bi-Courtney, Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN).
Among the royal fathers present were the Osemawe and Paramount Ruler of Ondo Kingdom, Oba Dr Adesimbo Kiladejo; and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, who was represented by the Asoya of Isoya, Ile-Ife, Oba Adedini Muraina.
Obasanjo said, “All my friends are committed Nigerians, dedicated human beings who can be trusted at every time. We thank God for your illustrious life exemplary of leadership, ardent patriotism and life-long devotion to the cause of upholding the highest standards of conduct in your profession and within our society.
“You are one of God’s special gifts to our nation, a rare breed who epitomises the finest tradition of African nobility. We cannot stop appreciating God for giving to the world an intellectual giant, a world-renowned clinician of whom the nation is justifiably proud. We, your friends, are proud of you, your achievements and contributions to the medical profession and to our nation.
“We salute your numerous contributions to the development of the country in medical practice, governance, business, education, community development and traditional institutions.”
Copyright PUNCH.
Kekemeke places fate in God’s Hands
The chairman Strategic Mobilization and Communication Committee of Lekeleke Movement, the campaign outfit of Chief D. I. Kekemeke, Hon. Demola Ijabiyi has explained the slogan of the Movement. The first stanza of the slogan reads, “Lekeleke… In God we trust”. It is followed by “Lekeleke …. Ko s’iro, ko s’ebo”. Then, “Ondo State… Gbera”
Ijabiyi explained that “ko s’ebo” that is, no rituals, epitomizes the Movement’s faith in and reliance on God. According to him, “Politicians are notorious for rituals. They can go to any length to seek spiritual assurance of victory in elections, to obtain political appointments or even to hurt their rivals. Some of these rituals have been found to involve human sacrifices and mysterious deaths. Kekemeke would have none of such. And he has warned his supporters to keep off rituals by prophets, alfas or babalawos. To him, there is nothing that God cannot do. Therefore, why not trust Him?”
Kekemeke, a former Secretary to the State Government and the pioneer State Chairman of APC is a leading gubetnatorial aspirant of the party. He has vowed to shun lies with which politicians are generally known. According to Ijabiyi, “That is the essence of the ‘ko s’iro’ (no-lies) slogan.”
Ijabiyi posited that as a former attorney general and commissioner for justice, as well as a former commissioner for works, housing, lands and transport. D.I. Kekemeke won’t be a stranger to governance and public service if elected to govern the State. According to him, Kekemeke was ready and determined to take the State to high levels as he had in his Movement’s slogan invited the State to arise, Ondo State…. Gbera
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