The Oyo State gubernatorial candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the last general elections, Engr. Akinwale Laosun, at the weekend, described the stand of the presidential candidate of the party in the last presidential election, Omoyele Sowore as a fight for all Nigerians while accusing the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), of habitually disregarding court judgments.
He also dissociated the party from the anti-hate speech bill which carries the death penalty as a sanction that is presently before the National Assembly, reiterating that the continuous disregard for court judgments by APC will only lead to stagnation of democratic gains the country has achieved so far.
Laosun, an agriculture engineer who spoke on various issues affecting the state and the nation as a whole stated that “there is a big problem for our nation, not just for Sowore alone or for any individuals and the government is going nowhere as it will remain stagnant in any country where judiciary system has been overruled by the government. It means that anybody in government can just decide to do whatever he wants and the rule of law doesn’t count.
“Looking at this APC led government, we found out that it is a scam and a fraud because it is not about the people of Nigeria, it’s kind of sectoral; it is just for a few individuals, not for the people of the country. We stood for a change in 2015, but now, what we got is distasteful and this is not what we want.
“There is an evil agenda behind hate speech. Our party is not in support of hate speech bill, although there are similar bills in some countries of the world, these are inwards countries, the hate speech bill shouldn’t have seen the light of the day in Nigeria but it was shocking that the bill scaled through the first reading at the National Assembly, this means that those we elected into government have nothing to do with the governance,” he said.
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Speaking on the state of affairs in the state, Laosun said reiterated that he will never engage in politics of vendetta, blackmail and mudslinging as his intentions and interest as a concerned indigene still remains putting the interest and development of Oyo State and the people ahead of any and every other thing.
While commending the Governor Seyi Makinde for the timely presentation of the 2020 budget to the state lawmakers, especially the allocations to infrastructure and education, he called for an improved allocation to the agricultural sector, adding that the state government needs to put in place quality and monitoring system to ensure that the budget is well implemented to the highest quality possible.
He stated further that there is a need for transparency on the contracts being awarded and the government has to lead by showing accountability, expressing the hope that this will permeate every government agency and parastatal.
“It is too early for us to start rejoicing on all that has been proposed considering that we are still short of the United Nations recommended budgetary allocation to education. Also, knowing that no amount is too large to be mismanaged as we have seen with previous administrations even a PDP led government.
“I want to add that our public schools are in a state of disrepair. The government must do a lot my with the budget to tackle poverty, hunger and overall present a viable economic growth development plan that would boost the affairs of our state.
“The government must put the right funding so that the youth can be meaningfully engaged aside from politics so that his promises to the youth and next generation can be well seen,” Laosun said.
and then