Ondo 2024: I’m better equipped to govern, APC aspirant, Ohunyeye

An aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Ondo state governorship election, Brigadier General Olumide Ohunyeye, (Rtd) on Thursday, said he is better equipped to rule the state considering his years of experience in military

Ohunyeye who stated this while declaring his governorship ambition at the APC secretariat in Akure, the state capital, promised to turn the state economy around if given the mandate.

He maintained that he is better equipped to maximize the resources of the state for optimal growth and progress of the state, saying he is poised to clinch the ticket of the party ahead of the governorship election slated for November this year in the state.

The aspirant who described the death of late governor, Rotimi Akeredolu as unfortunate, said the late Akeredolu was able to turn around the state within the last six years in the state.

He commiserated with Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa over the death of his principal, encouraging him to build on the good legacies left behind by Akeredolu.

The governorship aspirant however, emphasised that with the administrative, human, and financial resource management training he received as military personnel, he is fully equipped to lead the state as there will be a turnaround across various sectors.

He said: “I’m coming into this contest from a privileged position. And the privileged position is that I have been trained for 36 years in the military.

“The 36-year training speaks for itself; right from my junior days as a cadet, spanning to Officer Second Lieutenant and even to Generalship, you are exposed to various classes of command, leadership, administrative, human, and financial resource management training.

“The essence of those trainings is to achieve excellence in military service. I can without any doubt or equivocation tell you that it is a rare privilege to serve in the armed forces.

” I have been more than equipped, and I believe I will be able to compete favourably and possibly surpass every other aspirant in the race.

“There is no doubt that if I’m given the mandate, we are going to have a rebirth and a renewal of our Sunshine State, Ondo State.”

He disclosed that a blueprint that will be used to turn around the state in the areas of health, infrastructure, and education, among others, has already been prepared.

“We have prepared a blueprint that has come with cardinal objectives for critical areas in the state to be touched. We are going to look at security in its entirety. On security, we want to see the performance and functionality of the Amotekun Corps.

“There are plans to improve on the blueprints to ensure that Amotekun Corps is more potent, mobile, agile, and intelligently driven to perform within the state.

“On security, we have planned to deepen our collaborations with our neighbouring states and to ensure that not even one element of criminals and bandits infiltrates into Ondo State.

“We will look at the architecture of development in Ondo State. We want to entirely x-ray the infrastructure, which will cut across various sectors of development within the state.

” We are going to look at the urban renewal programmes, road networks within town, environmental-friendly issues within all towns in the state, drainages, and other support facilities within all our towns.

“On education, we will do a complete value chain analysis of all the educational facilities within the state, and this ranges from infrastructural support for education.

“The same goes for healthcare services. There will be deliberate and conscious efforts to improve all health facilities, from the tertiary to the intermediate and primary levels. Where they are not available, there is going to be the development of new ones for the general use of the people to improve healthcare within the state.

“The continuous practice of medical referrals out of the state to UCH Ibadan and the University of Ife Teaching Hospital will have to be carefully and painstakingly addressed so that we will have competent facilities with adequate capability to address this issue within the state.”

He said “as a part-loyalist who believes in party structure and hierarchy, it is not in my place to determine what mode of primary would be accepted.

“Whatever the party decides, it depends on me being a loyal member of the party that has a stickler for respect for the structure to key into this and prepare myself comprehensively towards winning the desired seat.”

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