BARELY less than 31 days to the conduct of September 22 governorship poll in Osun, a lawmaker, representing Ila State Constituency in the Osun State House of Assembly, Hon Clement Akanni, on Thursday defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He maintained that his decision to dump the APC for the main opposition party was informed by the failure of the state government to fulfil all the promises made to Ila community.
Speaking within the precinct of the palace of Orangun of Ila Orangun, where he announced his defection to the PDP, Akanni said he was forced out of the ruling party by some people who were not in tune with his political ideology, lamenting that all the promises made to Ila community by APC capable of aiding the educational, social and economic growth of his constituency have been abandoned.
He stated that “our College of Education used to have 33,000 students, it now has less than 2,000. APC promised to upgrade our institution to university. Rather than do that, the current government through its policies is gradually killing the institution.
When the government wanted to downsize the workforce in the state-owned higher institutions, 73 names were selected from the College of Education, Ila, while 38 names were pencilled down for retrenchment from Ilesha College of Education.
“I vehemently resisted this. I told my colleagues in the House of Assembly that Ilesha College has more staffers than lla, yet has lesser number of staffers that would be retrenched. Whenever I tried to positively influence government policies to favour my constituents, some people in APC would say no.
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While addressing the people during the defection, the Ejemu of Ila, Chief Paul Ogunrinade implored the governorship candidate of the PDP in the forthcoming gubernatorial poll, Senator Ademola Adeleke to upgrade College of Education in Ila to university, if elected governor of the state, demanding that all roads that link Ila to Ekiti and Kwara states should be rehabilitated.
Welcoming the defector and his supporters into the PDP at a rally held in front of Igbonibi Hall, Adeleke, said he had fulfilled all promises he made before being elected a senator during July 8 by-election to fill the vacant seat of Osun West Senatorial District, just as he assured to implement policies that would improve the quality of lives of the citizenry if elected as governor of Osun State.
