The Oyo Kajola Group (OKG), a sociopolitical organisation based in Oyo State, has declared that the people of Oyo State will re-elect Governor Seyi Makinde due to his track record of exemplary performance.
The group said that residents of the state are set to re-elect the governor, because they have discovered that the state will be better off with him as governor adding that his experience and excellent performance across different sectors in the last four years will guarantee good governance.
A statement by the Media Coordinator of the OKG, Comrade Adebayo Ayandele, declared that with the achievements of the incumbent governor in the areas of infrastructure development, health, security and education, it is clear that he remains the best choice as the 9th executive governor of the Pacesetter State.
The group appealed to residents of the state not to allow religious sentiments and other biases to overshadow the interest of the state when they are voting in Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly election.
OKG further pointed out how Makinde has redefined governance in Oyo State with people-centred policies and programmes, including free and qualitative education, revitalized economy and construction of close to 500 kilometres of roads and other infrastructure projects.
The group listed other achievements of the governor in close to four years as including the expansion of the state’s economy and the remodelling and equipment of about 264 Primary Health Centres.
It added that Makinde’s administration has also shown itself as a kind one, with the prompt payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities whixh has helped to bring stability to countless homes and the micro-economy of the state.
According to the group, the Makinde government was also able to prove itself as a productive one with the growth of the state’s Internally Generated Revenue from N1.6 Billion to about N3.7 billion and the reduction of the state’s dependence on allocations from the Federation Account to about 50 per cent.
The group admonished residents of the state not to lose sight of all the good things achieved by the Makinde administration due to a gang-up against him by a part of the political class and the baseless incitements along religious and other lines, stating that good governance should not be sacrificed on the altar of desperate politics.
The statement read: “Having observed the trend of developments in Oyo State since May 29, 2019 when the incumbent governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, assumed office, the Oyo Kajola Group (OKG) can declare in clear and unmistakable terms, that Governor Makinde, who is the candidate of the PDP in Saturday’s election, remains the best option for the people of Oyo State.
“We make bold to state that he remains the best way forward for our great state, at this auspicious time, as his experience and expertise gained in the course of the last four eventful years as governor are indispensable to the state at this moment in history.
“In the 47 years of Oyo State’s history, the forefathers, guardians and people of the state cannot be said to have made many mistakes with regards to leadership choice, hence the consistent rise and growth of the state.
“Indeed, for quite a long time, the process of choosing leaders was so controlled that it became difficult for any governor to be elected twice. But in 2015, upon the conviction that not allowing governors serve two terms have been a cog in the wheel of the progress of the state, the late former Governor Abiola Ajimobi was re-elected by the people of the state.
“Eight years after, Oyo State is back at the same point, where it has to decide whether to keep up with the time-tested practice of re-electing governor to allow the consolidation of all efforts and achievements started in the first four years or to kowtow to the whims and caprice of few individuals bent on holding the state down with religious sentiments and baseless grandstanding.
“Clearly, the wise choice here is to allow continuity and if Ajimobi deserved that continuity in 2015, then Makinde even deserves it more, going by the manifest successes that Oyo State has recorded under his leadership in the last four years.”
The Oyo Kajola Group argued that the March 18 governorship election would give residents of the state the opportunity to support sound reasoning, solid programmes and policies, which Governor Makinde has implemented in Omituntun 1.0 and promised to build on under Omituntun 2.0.
The group warned residents of the state not to fall for cheap lies, religious incitement and sentimental arguments being canvassed by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and its backers, noting that the opposition candidates do not have the capacity or antecedents to take the state to the next level.
“The ‘Seyi Makinde administration, in less than four years, has constructed/and is still constructing more roads than any administration before him. It is on record that the administration, apart from completing several abandoned road projects left by his predecessors, has constructed the longest the stretches of roads by any government in the 47 years history of the state.
“For the records, the 65 kilometres Moniya-Ijaiye-Iseyin Road, which was constructed under one year and six months and the ongoing 76 km Ogbomoso-Fapote-Iseyin Road, are by far, the most enviable infrastructure project embarked upon by any administration in the state since the turn of the millennium.
“The Basorun-Akobo-Odogbo Barracks Road and General Gas Flyover, the 9.7 Saki Township Road, the Sabo-Gedu-Oroki Road in Oyo, the 12 kilometres Apete-Awotan concrete Road, the ongoing 110km Ibadan Circular Road, the Benbo-Jankata-Apata Road, the 45km Saki-Ogbooro-Igboho Road, among others in Ogbomoso and Ibarapa zones, are evidences of an administration with a solid roadmap on the state’s infrastructure.
“Today, Oyo State’s education sector has taken a giant leap through the Free Qualitative Education policy of the incumbent administration. The state can also boast of the final resolution of the crisis of ownership facing the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso while the Makinde administration has also successfully secured the approval for the upgrade of the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo to a University.
“In the health sector, all available records also point to the enviable performance of the incumbent administration, especially in the area of Primary Healthcare delivery. Today, residents of Oyo State can bear abundant witness to the availability and easy accessibility to healthcare delivery through the improved Primary Health Centres in all nooks and crannies of the State.
“In four years, the incumbent administration has successfully turned Oyo State to a public and private investments hub, with the designation of the State as one of the sites for the African Development Bank’s Agroprocessing Zone and the siting of multibillion Naira agribusiness industries including the first-ever Sorbitol Plant in Ado-Awaye as well as the N300 Billion Brent Sugar Factory in Iseyin, among other huge investments attracted to the State.
“It is also noteworthy that under Governor Makinde, the security architecture of Oyo State has been improved and a great stability restored to the state through his huge investments on security support for federal security agencies and the establishment of the Oyo State Security Network codenamed Amotekun Corps.
“Through all these achievements, coupled with the governor’s display of understanding and effective handling of several sensitive matters, which would have precipitated crisis in the state, including the issues of traditional institutions and religion, Governor Makinde has showed responsible and uncommon leadership in the last 45 months.
“He has offered to serve the people of the state again and it is in the best interest of the state to re-elect him and all candidates of the PDP into the House of Assembly.”
Signed
Adebayo Ayandele
Media Coordinator, Oyo Kajola Group
March 15, 2023.
