I will confront ‘cancerous’ issue of insecurity headlong, raise IGR to N10bn monthly — Akinlade, Ogun APC guber aspirant

Governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Adekunle Akinlade, has stated that as governor of the state, he will address the cancerous issue of insecurity in the state.

He also stated that, with his experience as a Senior Special Assistant on Revenue and Taxation to Ogun State government between 2011 and 2014 among others, he will ensure that the state unlocks N10bn in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) monhtly.

While speaking during his formal declaration for the office of the governor in Abeokuta, Akinlade unveiled a six-point agenda for the race, adding that the state needs a new Sheriff to steer its affairs and unlock its destiny.

The agenda covers security, agriculture-driven human capital development, strategic internally generated revenue modules, healthcare, social justice, and urban renewal.

The former House of Representatives member said he will constitute a security architecture run out of his office and headed by a retired military intelligence officer to flush out all criminal elements in the state within six months.

He said: “Come 2023, God willing, our administration shall from day one confront the cancerous issue of insecurity headlong to ensure that the safety of lives remain paramount and a priority, without abusing the rights and privileges of our people.

“We shall encourage the development and establishment of large-scale cash crop farms in areas where they have relative advantage across the State in partnership with bodies such as the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP). Indigenous private sector investors shall be offered encouraging incentives to drive related initiatives, thereby saving the State billions of naira to be invested in other sectors.”

On IGR, Akinlade said the state is well endowed both in human and natural resources to break the N10billion per month revenue generation ceiling, adding that the people must first see that the government is disciplined, accountable, and serious in the management of its resources.

“Upon assumption of office, we shall deploy all resources at our disposal to get at least 500,000 indigenes of the state gainfully employed through our carefully planned agro value chain development schemes, hand-craft skill acquisition, and ICT direct service initiatives.

“We shall establish a Pond-Concept Tax platform that enables every employed individual (Self or otherwise) to meet their tax obligations conveniently. Unemployed taxable adults shall be encouraged to enrol in our proposed private sector-driven cottage industry ‘All Hands Engaged Scheme’,” he said.

The former governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in the 2019 promised that his administration will enumerate every young adult between the ages of 18 and 35 across the state and enrol them in our All Hands Engaged Scheme which will enable them to acquire the requisite skills needed for industrial development and get stipends.

He also said his administration shall renovate all government-owned schools through direct labour, adding that teachers in the state civil service shall be appointed as commissioner for education, special advisers, and related aides from as part of efforts to make far-reaching policy decisions in the educational sector.

Akinlade’s declaration was attended by two other governorship aspirants Modele Sarafa-Yusuf and Biyi Otegbeye.