2019: Former House speaker, Bankole, vows to oust APC in Ogun

A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, has vowed to unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State in 2019.

Mr Bankole is the governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADC).

Speaking on Monday at his official introduction as the candidate of the party at its headquarters in Onikolobo area of Abeokuta, the former federal lawmaker said ADC has the structure to sack the ruling party at the polls in the state.

He expressed appreciation to party members for electing him as the governorship candidate and assured the party that he would not waste its ticket.

“I am exceedingly happy to be nominated as our party’s gubernatorial candidate. I am grateful to this massive structure you have built in the last six years, especially in the last two years,” he said.

“I promise that I will not, in any capacity, play with the ticket that you have given me. I believe I can speak on behalf of all other candidates that come February and March 2019, we will deliver.

“I am speaking with all confidence with the work that you have done in the last two years, and still doing, most of it covertly. We are in for a shot at the seat in this state. We are dependent on God and the work that we have done and still doing especially at grassroots level,” he stated.

“I assure you that the economic complexities of Ogun State are not difficult. And the motto of our party ‘Mass Employment’ is something that we will follow.”

The chairman of the party in the state, Wale Egunleti, said the journey had been tough, but the party had been strengthened by the resolve to abide by democratic principles and distinguish itself from those who engaged in acts detrimental to democratic ethos.

“In the light of recent events in which primaries by other parties were marred by violence and are even subject to litigation, we in the Action Democratic Party have set ourselves apart by conducting primaries in a most peaceful manner, which will remain as a point of reference for years to come,” he said.

The party’s boss described Mr Bankole as a tested and trusted leader whose competence and readiness for the task of effectively governing Ogun can not be questioned.

Mr Bankole, then elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, became Speaker of the House of Representatives in November 2007 after Patricia Etteh was forced to step down over allegation of contract fraud.