AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
Senator Teslim Folarin, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, has condemned the allegation by the ruling People’s Democratic Party in the state that he sat back dreaming of victory while others were busy campaigning, saying that the PDP was talking from position of ignorance.
According to the three-term Senator representing Oyo Central District at the National Assembly, the PDP was unaware of the fact that modalities of canvassing for vote had shifted from the usual jamboree and noise making at the campaign rallies to direct interfacing with the voting public.
Folarin, while fielding questions from newsmen at a special guest forum organised by the Correspondents’ Chapel, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Oyo State Council, said that while he would devout 80per cent of his time campaigning for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC, the latter’s eventual victory at the poll would aid his own emergence as governor-elect in the coming weeks.
The Senator, who alleged that Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration in Oyo State merely cajoled the people, said for instance that he (the governor) prioritized motor parks development over education.
He explained that powershift from North to South, being canvassed by the people, was a compelling issue, and the candidature of Asiwaju Tinubu was right and timely. Explaining that Tinubu’s victory at the poll would herald desired progress, he said that if also elected as governor, he would commit his energy to birthing a better state.
He said, “It is only in Oyo State that motor parks and garages are better than schools. A situation where motor parks and garages are better than schools is unacceptable.
“PMS is alien to law. There is nothing like PMS; it is unconstitutional. We know NURTW. On my first day in office, the first thing I will do is replace PMS with NURTW. PMS will go.
“I don’t have any fear over NURTW. Oyo State is number 33 out of 36 in the education ranking. That is bad. That 50 schools were delisted by WAEC is bad. The first thing I would do as governor is to declare a state of emergency in education and other sectors.”
He said, “I think we should be honest with ourselves, we live in a very corrupt society and so, the police is corrupt, the army is corrupt, I am corrupt, journalists are corrupt. What can we do about it? I think we can provide purposeful leadership. That is the answer. That is what we are going to do.
“There are generic lawlessness, armed robbery, kidnapping (etc.) We would try to put together very strong security architecture. What we must get rid of now once we are sworn in is the state sponsored thuggery. We will not tolerate that.
“You said that our opponents said that we are not campaigning, what is their business with that? But I will tell you something; you know the electoral calendar changed. Because of the amendment to the electoral act, we got the ticket like six months back. As a party, we sat down and said what should we do? We are the only party that went round the state, sleeping in the 33 local government. No other party has done that.
“We changed our style of campaign. It is more expensive. It is not the usual jamboree. When you put a stage there; who are the people that you see there? Politicians and thugs. People that you want to talk to don’t come. What we did was that, we even went to some wards. That is more productive for us. Let them do their own jamboree, let them leave us with our own.
“Asiwaju is coming on the 7th February and the plan is to have the best rally so far. When Asiwaju leads on the 7th, on the 9th, we would go round the state again.”
Asked to mention the percentage that APC would poll during elections, he said, “There is 3.3milion registered voters in Oyo State. We know Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu) would win. We are trying to see how we maximize his win. That informs us going round the state again to talk to people to please come out. Our target is 1.5million.”
He stressed that “For us to take advantage of Asiwaju Tinubu’s emergence as president, the people of Oyo State should elect me as governor. If elected as governor of the state, my administration would, for instance, have a symbiotic partnership with journalists for the development of the state.
“It is unbefitting for journalists (Correspondents Chapel) not to have an office where they can meet and interact as professionals in the state. I am assuring you that this would change if I am elected because the roles of journalists are very critical to the development of the state.”
Raji Adebayo, Chairman, Correspondents Chapel, Oyo State chapter, said in his earlier address that the programme was part of his campaign promises targeted at making the Chapel great again.
Adebayo said, “Today’s event is a fulfillment of one of the promises made when I was campaigning that I will make the Correspondents Chapel great and vibrant with the calibre of people that would be featuring on our guest forum, and here we are, with the help of God and people like Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, who is not only my personal person but big boss; YSO Olaniyi, media aide to Senator Foalrin; and my good friend, Wasiu Olawale Sadare, who was my classmate at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, (who is the APC Publicity Secretary in Oyo state). These are the people that made it possible for me to bring before you our Senator, Teslim Kolawole Folarin. I thank you all for the support.”
