Osun 2018: SSG’s exit won’t affect my victory- Oyetola

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, has said his victory in the September 22 election won’t be affected by the exit of Moshood Adeoti.

Mr Adeoti, the former Secretary to the Government of Osun State (SSG), was one of the aspirants for the governorship ticket of the APC. He withdrew from the race on the day of the primary, saying the process was manipulated.

In a letter to his party in Osun, he (Adeoti) expressed dissatisfaction with the purported ‘imposition’ of the Chief of Staff to the governor, Mr Oyetola, as the party’s gubernatorial candidate.

He left the party for Action Democratic Party (ADP), on the grounds that his senatorial district, Osun West, was marginalised by the election of Mr Oyetola, who is from Osun Central zone. Mr Adeoti also resigned as SSG.

Mr Oyetola, however expressed his confidence of victory on Monday at the party’s secretariat in Abuja while addressing journalists after what he called a “Thank you visit” to the leadership of the party.

“Well, SSG is my brother actually, I would have loved he remains in the party. But as a matter of choice, he decides to leave the party. There is nothing anybody can do about that.

“But as for the fact that, it might affect my fortune, I don’t think so. One, if you look at the result of that election, I had 127,000 votes. These are purely members of our party. We are going to have opportunities of other voters.

“With the kind of programme I want to run and the fact that people seem to have that level of trust in me, I believe I will have more votes not only from the APC, which is our base, even from the generality of the people.

“So, I wish him (Adeoti) well. He is somebody I have some regards for too. Sometimes politics is like that. You part and meet again. I wish him well,” he said.

He also commended the process of direct primaries, urging the party leadership to adopt it for other primary elections to be conducted soon.

“I don’t see the pain in the process to be honest. You are talking of comparing two things, direct and indirect. I don’t see the pain. Indirect (primaries) gives a lot of pains because in choosing few members of the party, you are going to pay through your nose.

“It’s like a brassier, 300, 400, 500, 600… so it creates an impression of the popularity that may not be there. If you have the money, you can buy your way. That’s what it means. But this (direct primaries) allows for participation of all members of the party.

“There is nothing that is more representative than that. I am proud to be product of direct primary. That shows that I am very popular. There is no pain about that. Sometimes you need to ensure that security is good enough for miscreants that might want to hijack the process.

“Other than that, there is no pain. It is less cumbersome, it less expensive and it is very transparent and it doesn’t allow for moneybags taking over. Someone that has the money can come one day and buy their way through and before you know he becomes flagbearer. It is what I recommend to all parties.”

He lamented that some workers are still being owed in the state.

“First of all, most states have been challenged by the paucity of fund over the years but there is this misconception on the issue of salaries in Osun State.

“We paid salary from level 1 to 7, we are not owing anybody. We paid 75 per cent for people in levels 8 to 10, the only category of people we are owing is actually from level 12 to 17, likewise pension.”