The Governor Gboyega Oyetola Campaign Council has said Osun State is not for sale to the highest bidder ahead of the July 16 governorship election in the state.
The campaign council which was reacting to comments about having dollars and euros made by Sen, Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the governorship election, described the statement as absurd and unacceptable.
Adeleke had, while speaking to supporters at the weekend, bragged that he was well prepared for the governorship race unlike in 2018 when Oyetola defeated him.
The PDP candidate in a 43-second video currently circulating on social media, said he has brought money for the 2022 Osun governorship poll.
According to him: “My fellow Osun residents, you are the one to decide. It is not by force, not by gimmicks, if it is money, I have brought money and not only Naira but dollars, pounds and Euro. This time around, it is fire for fire for Osun governorship election.”
However, reacting to the comments, the Director-General of the Oyetola campaign council, Sen. Ajibola Bashiru, on Monday in Osogbo, said that the boast by Adeleke to have enough money – both local and in foreign currencies – to execute his political ambition was embarrassing.
Bashiru said that on daily basis, the PDP candidate was proving to the electorate that he had nothing to offer.
“Osun people are not gullible. We have left them in no doubt of the quality of our party, the APC and our administration are made of, including the capacity of our candidate to deliver in the past three and half years,” he said.
“We have proved through our inclusive governance strategy that our people are our strength and that we do not take them for granted and we will never take them for granted.
“This explains why in spite of the way the 2018 election went, our administration began infrastructure intervention from Ede, the hometown of the PDP candidate.
“Osun people are enlightened, they Know that the state and its citizens are not up for sale to the highest bidder.
“Therefore, the PDP candidate should keep his money. Or better still, he could deploy those resources to establish industries to provide jobs for the people.
” This way, he will also be supporting the present administration’s noticeable efforts in the last three and half years to industrialise the state and change its narrative as a civil service state, to one bubbling with economic activities.
“It is on record that the Oyetola-led administration has since inception taken concrete steps to open up the state for investments, and has been able to attract a number of investments into Osun, contributing to the economic growth of the state.
“We assure the PDP candidate that like the administration did to other players in the private sector, we will provide a level playing ground for his business to thrive and ensure Osun and its people derive maximum benefit from the investment”, he said.
Bashiru also cautioned Adeleke against overheating the polity with his incendiary comments and violent tendencies, wondering what he meant by saying ‘its fire for fire this time around’.
“As a responsible party, we urge Senator Adeleke and his party to embrace peaceful conduct and decorum in their political engagements and electioneering.
“We must avoid any comment or action that can jeopardise the peace and stability of our state,” he said.