It was a Carnival like yesterday in Ile-oluji, in Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo local government area of Ondo state as a Frontline governorship aspirant, Mr Wale Akinterinwa concludes his campaign tours of the 18 local government areas of the state, vowing that with God on his side, he stands better chance to pick the APC ticket in tomorrow’s governorship primaries.
Akinterinwa had transversed the 18 council areas to seek the support of party leaders and members in emerging the candidate of the APC in this Saturday’s primary election, taking place across the state.
The popular Ile-Oluji civic centre, venue of the rally was filled to capacity as hundreds of Akinterinwa’s supporters thronged the place in different branded T-shirts and Faz-caps.
Speaking with journalists, the APC governorship aspirant, Mr Wale Akinterinwa expressed confidence in picking the party’s ticket on Saturday.
Akinterinwa, a three time commissioner of finance in Ondo state explained that he already had the assurances of the support of Ondo state people after speaking with them during his campaign across the eighteen local council areas, promising not to disappoint them if given the opportunity to govern the state.
He said “I could see that we were warmly received all across the state, both in the northern senatorial district, in the central district, and in the south. The people were enthusiastic, and one thing is obvious: you can see that they see us as the alternative, the change they desire. I want to believe what I saw on their part was sincerity; they want a new person.”
“They want somebody knowledgeable, somebody who has the capacity, somebody who has been around long enough, somebody whom they know and who they know has been in government, somebody they can fraternise with”.
The former commissioner for finance who revealed that some of his co-aspirants were already reaching out to him expressed optimism that they would step down for him before the Saturday’s election.
According to Akinterinwa “I expect that on Saturday, we will come out as the winners of the primaries, by the grace of God. I won’t be surprised if aspirants start stepping down for me. Some of them (aspirants) are reaching out to me”.
Reacting to the appointment of Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo as chairman of the seven-man committee to conduct the Ondo APC Governorship primary election on Saturday, Akinterinwa said “I expect that the Governor of Kogi State, His Excellency, Alhaji Usman Ahmed Ododo, I don’t know him, but I believe he is a man of integrity.
“A man who has capacity. the Obviously, for choosing him to come and conduct the election here (Ondo State), the party hierarchy must know that he is capable of doing a good job.
He stated further, “I expect that we will have a level playing field and that we will have free and fair primaries, hitch-free, even though people are still a bit skeptical due to certain things. But all I know is that despite some of these obstacles, I’ll surmount them and come out victorious. The party has a structure, and we already have an acting national chairman. I believed that the people coming to conduct the primaries were also members of the party and had an understanding of their role”.
