A former governor of Ogun State and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, has called on all members of the party in the state to support Governor Dapo Abiodun as he would begin another term four years.
Osoba made this call when he received the governor, his deputy, the APC state chairman and other members of the party at his Abeokuta residence.
Abiodun, his deputy and Ogun State House of Assembly members-elect had gone on a thank-you visit to Osoba, after they received their Certificates of Return, CoRs from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Thursday.
The former governor, however, urged leaders and members of the party to be magnanimous in victory.
Describing Governor Abiodun’s victory at the just concluded governorship and House of Assembly elections as a miracle, Osoba noted that he remained a firm believer in the ability of the governor to continue the good works he already started in the state.
He said, “Let all of us be magnanimous in victory, this is not the time to review whatever has happened, and nobody should play the role of ‘but for me,’ it is for all of us and the entire state.
“No matter what happened in some other areas, the situation that we found ourselves was beyond redemption for many people. I want to plead that the review of the election should be put on hold, because at the moment, we are all very emotional, a review will be done thoroughly at the appropriate time.
“I want us to continue to give the governor support, remain focused, whatever anybody would say, the governor really worked hard and he did his best. I am sure the very first four years is just the beginning of the best, by the grace of God, in the next four years, we will see the better part of governance in Ogun State. This victory is for all of us, irrespective of where you come from. The issue of we are the ones that delivered, don’t let us discuss that now.”
Expressing happiness about the synergy that would be experienced with an All Progressives Congress, APC, government at the center and in the state, Osoba noted that the people of the country would experience good governance of competence under the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Presidency.
Responding, Governor Abiodun described Aremo Osoba as a good man, his political mentor and a moral as well as political compass.
Thanking the former governor for inspiring him and his administration to do more for the people of the state, Abiodun said, “Baba, you are a good man, you are a very good man, you are a father, you are my father, you are my political mentor, you have watched over me and the rest of us, you continue to pray fervently over all of us, you continue to motivate and encourage us.
“You are our compass, you are the one that inspired us, whenever we see you, we are always at ease, you will live long sir, we will not disappoint you.
“I want to thank our party members, this is not the time to fight among ourselves, God has given us victory, we thank all those who voted for us, we also thank those who did not vote for us.”
Abiodun disclosed that his administration in its second term would focus more on public utilities to ensure that the people of the state have adequate supply of potable water and uninterrupted power supply, adding that a lot would be done to ease the ability to do business in the state.
He added, “We will now begin to focus on other things we didn’t focus on in the first four years, because we could not have attended everything in the first four years.
“Having invested a lot in people-oriented infrastructure, ranging from highways, roads to others such as schools, affordable housing, our primary health care centers and hospitals, we are now going to be looking at public utilities to ensure that we have adequate supply of potable water, and uninterrupted power supply.
“We are going to commit to do our best in terms of easing the ability to do business which is line with our vision to bring more people into our state.”
The governor further noted that the Ogun State International Agro Cargo Airport project would be completed before the end of the year, adding that investment would be brought into the state to help facilitate the beginning of the Kajola Dry Port.
He concluded, “Our airport project will be completed before the end of this year, to that extent, we are going to invest in the Kajola Dry Port, which will allow the ease of the Apapa Port as well as facilitating business for our investors that are here in Ogun State, alongside the completion of many projects that we started.”
