A governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), has said the chances of the party in Ondo state in the election slated for October 10 this year is very bright.
He added that even members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are also waiting for him to rescue the state from the maladministration of the incumbent, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN).
Jegede, PDP Ondo state 2016 governorship candidate stated this, Wednesday shortly after obtaining the Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms to contest the governorship primaries at the party’s headquarters in Abuja.
On why he was seeking the party’s ticket again, Jegede explained that “let me say that the event of 2016 was known to all. Yes, I was the candidate of PDP in the governorship election and it took a lot of struggle to be able to retrieve that mandate. Despite that, we had only one day to campaign and all the party agents which were at the polling unit at that time, none was appointed by myself. So the result was obvious. We pleaded then for an extension of time but INEC in its wisdom did not allow it. The outcome came and we came second.
“Now, we have unfinished business and that business is to retrieve power and put it in the hands of the people of Ondo state. Again we have to open and give access to our teeming youths who are the prospective students in our universities, a lot of them have dropped out of school because of the collapse of the education system in Ondo state especially the imposition of a humongous amount as tuition fees, he added.
Jegede also noted that “we intend to also give access to our people to access medical care, for the youth, for the young and for women, especially pregnant women.
He continued ” we intend to develop Ondo state economically and open the coastal areas and ensure that in reality, the port in Ondo state will come on stream. We want to ensure that our people and our youths have access to opportunities that are available. We will create a job for everybody and make the place generally secured, peaceful, driven by development. We will ensure that we place the entire state in the hands of the people of Ondo state”.
Explaining where the incumbent governor, Akeredolu has failed, he started “our students have dropped out of school. You can go and check how much that is being paid as tuition fee in our universities. The first thing the APC government did when they came into power was to increase the fees in all the institutions almost by 500%. In effect, a good number of our students dropped out of school.
“You can also go and check our hospitals, people are dying by the day because they cannot pay medical bills and those who collect medical bills collect the commission on the medical bills because they say that it is IGR. That shouldn’t happen. These are the kinds of things we want to do differently.
Responding to a question on his chances of winning the party’s ticket, Jegede said “very bright, in the hands of God and in the hands of the people of Ondo state.
He continued “The issue has been resolved by the supreme court. The chances of the PDP winning the election are very bright. You need to go and check, people are waiting, even the APC members are waiting for PDP.”
