By Jubril Bada

A journalist reporting for Sahara Reporters, Adekunle Ajayi, emerged on Saturday as the governorship candidate of the Ondo State chapter of the African Action Congress (AAC) for the forthcoming gubernatorial election.

Ajayi emerged through affirmation by all 35 state delegates of the party from the 18 local governments in the state.

The consensus mode of the primary held in Akure, the state capital, was monitored by the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Declaring Ajayi the candidate of the AAC, the State Chairman of the party, Comrade Olugbenga Arinkoluwa, said the party decided to pick him as its candidate after several meetings had been held, believing he would represent the party well in the election.

He explained that AAC is a party comprising people of intelligence, vision, and mission, saying that Ajayi, in this regard, is cerebral enough to turn misfortune into fortune if elected as the next governor of the state.

“We did not ask him to bring money, but we decided that the person with vision, mission, and intelligence would be our candidate so that when he got there as the governor, he would not have excuses to steal public money.

“He is not the type that will steal the common wealth of the people to pay bank loans. He didn’t borrow any money and did not commit one naira to the party,” he disclosed.

In his acceptance speech, the governorship candidate of the party, Adekunle Ajayi, said the contest was a long-time challenge that he needed to take up to correct the mismanagement of politics, the economy, and social development by insincere politicians in the state.

Societal building has to do with how much you are involved, not age. Most of the Special Advisers have no thinking capacity for the development of the state.

“At the level of youth, most of us are deeply involved, from the level of student movement to people movement. Apart from being deeply involved, we also have intellectuals to build and defend agriculture and the environmental status of the state. With the level of understanding in the state, we think it is time to take center stage, not the side or back stage, for both growth and development of the state.

“We are going to reject all forms of neoliberalism policies in this state. We are not going to stand and watch as all raw materials of the state move to other climes.

“Instead, we are going to advance what Baba Ajasin did in building companies, industries to massively reduce unemployment. We are not going to transfer public funds to private hands.

“We will make Ondo State attractive so that doctors will not go abroad. We will have our own refinery.

“We are not just going to build hospitals but an advanced healthcare system. A situation where we will have primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare systems.”