Former Special Assistant on Oil and Gas to the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, Dr Benson Enikuomehin, in this interview with selected journalists, spoke on why major political parties zoned their governorship ticket to Ondo South Senatorial District and counseled on how the zone can maximise opportunities from the zoning arrangement. KEHINDE OLATUNJI was there.The two major political parties, namely APC and PDP, have chosen the pattern of their primary. For the APC, it is going to be direct primary while PDP prefers indirect option. But APC needs to put its house in order. I hope that they will do it well and ensure that a reliable person is elected. We cannot afford to make mistakes because for now, Ondo State is not getting its best from the resources available to the state. So, we must look for a credible, reliable and dependable individual.One is the antecedent of the individuals, who are coming out. Secondly, we must look at their integrity, we should check how reliable they are, if this person says A, does he mean A? If he says B, does it mean B? If he says good morning, do we need to look at the sky to be sure that it is morning and not night? We also need to look at their minimum qualifications to be sure that the person we are projecting can go to the comity of nations or comity of states and represent us well. The two political parties have done well, firstly, in zoning their governorship candidate to Ondo South. We have three senatorial districts, Ondo North, Ondo Central, and Ondo South. In this dispensation, that is from 1999 till date, the following persons have governed the state, our late father, Chief Adebayo Adefarati, from the North spent four years. OlusegunAgagu from the South took over from Adefarati, he completed his first term and was doing a second before he was removed by the court. Dr Olusegun Mimiko from the Central took over. Mimiko was the first person, who established that a governor could rule the state for two terms, it had never happened before in Ondo State. The calibre of aspirants that came out this season in the two political parties are largely men of credibility, sound education, and men whose integrity may not be doubted. However, when you take an examination, some people will have a third class, they have passed. Some will have second-class lower division, they have passed. Some will have second-class upper division, they passed, and yet, some will have first class. Even among the first class, some will still top the class. If we assess these men and look at who they are, what they have done, what they have achieved, what people say about them, which of them can we ask to go for us? The people of Ondo need to ask, among these men that have come up in APC and PDP, who shall we send?In 2012, when Mimiko, Akeredolu and Chief Olusola Oke came for a debate as to who should be the governor of the state, the debate was tough but due to sentiment of allowing Mimiko to complete two terms, the people voted for Mimiko. When Mimiko left office, people decided it should be the turn of Akeredolu and he was voted for two terms. Now, only one man is left among that trio, and that is Chief Oke. He holds an LLM, not only that, he is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). He has contested this position three times before. I think this will be the fourth time now that he will be contesting.If I were contesting for the position of the governor of Ondo State, which I’m eminently qualified for, and Oke and I were to go into the race, if I’m sincere with myself, I should step down for him, but I’m not contesting. Of all these aspirants who have shown interest in contesting for the governorship seat of Ondo State, Oke is the only one not holding government office. Every other person has to fall back on the state resources to do it.Oke has the courage and ability to deliver as governor of the state. Let us remove sentiment, we are looking for somebody who will do a good job. We are talking about the person who has the age and the temerity. Of all these persons, Olusola Oke is the only one who is not holding government office. He has been financing his project and financing it well. Every other person has to fall back on the resources of the state.
One of the ways APC could throw away the baby they have been nursing for over the years is to shortchange Ondo South. And I tell you, make no mistake about it, I will mobilise people and friends to say we are not slaves. At least someone has taken power for one year. Agagu was the one who opened us up.
We were a people forgotten and not to be considered. He constructed roads. I did not deride anybody, everyone is qualified but we need to bring life to our people. I urge the ruling APC to follow its guidelines and ensure that a credible, reliable and dependable primary is conducted for the aspirants for the guber ticket.
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