Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Segun Sowunmi, has called on the governors in the country to concentrate more on developing their respective states rather than immersing themselves unnecessarily in national politics which has no direct impact on the people.
He made this call in a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen at the weekend, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Sowunmi who was the PDP governorship aspirant in Ogun in the 2023 general elections, noted that no development can happen at the national level without development at various states in the country, charged the governors to work more towards delivering good governance and enhance the socio-economic well-being of the people.
He, however, charged the governors to emulate Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, who according to him, has carried out “phenomenal developmental works across his state”.
Sowunmi disclosed that he was in Osun recently and was marvelled by the infrastructural transformation the state has witnessed under the watch of the governor in less than two years in office.
He said that he never expected such a sterling performance in office from the Osun State governor because of his projection by the people as “the dancing swag person”.
The PDP chieftain added that apart from personally seeing various projects being carried by the governor in the state, positive reactions from the people he interacted with, particularly the civil servants further reinforced his conviction.
He argued that if Governor Adeleke could spring into action and espouse good governance despite the low Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by the state and Federal Fiscal Allocation, no state governor should have an excuse not to perform in office.
The statement reads: “I did this for my personal conviction for I don’t like those who play politics with development or just do media propaganda with nothing on ground.
To develop our country we must develop the states.
“I have formed the habit of not judging the book by its cover, this is one of the virtues passed down unto me by my parents, which compelled me to do thorough research before airing my views on issues.
“Many people are not aware of the reason behind my fair judgement, it is because I will not jump into conclusion without diligent appraisal of the situation.
“Honestly, I was not expecting much from the Governor of Osun state in terms of projects, because the best the media has been projecting about him was just his Davidic nature, the dancing swag.
“With little hope, I asked one of his men to show me Governor Ademola Adeleke’s projects in the state, then what I saw wowed me.
“I cannot believe the direction at which the Governor is tilting the development of the state to, he has monumental on-going projects which have great capacity to influence the living standard of the people positively.
“I was expecting little, I got more than expected. I anticipated less, my curiousity was abundantly satisfied. Governor Ademola Adeleke, without doubt, has again confirmed to me that, men are nurtured by nature and their family backgrounds, the excellence of the Adeleke’s family has rubbed positively on the government of Osun state, I hope the Governor will remain focus to dot the (i)s and cross the (t)s and not be distracted by political opportunists”.
Sowunmi, who applauded the giant strides the governor has made in road construction and other infrastructural projects, health, education, social security and others, submitted that Nigeria would be great if the states are developed by their governors.
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