Five governorship aspirants of the Labour Party on Wednesday conceded
the governorship ticket of the party in Oyo State to a former governor in the
state, Adebayo Alao-Akala , during the party’s primary in Ibadan.
The five aspirants are Sharafadeen Alli, Nurudeen Akinyo, Kazeem
Adedeji, Olu Abiala and Olatunji Sadiq. Alli was nominated as running mate to
Alao-Akala while others said they unanimously selected the former governor in
the interest of the party and the state.
Alao-Akala left the Peoples Democratic Party on Monday when former
Senate Leader Teslim Folarin emerged as the party’s governorship candidate,
citing insincerity and injustice as reasons for his withdrawal from the party.
He immediately announced the decision to join LP.
In his acceptance speech, Alao-Akala commended the other aspirants and
the party for accepting him, expressing the optimism that the party would form
the next government in the state.
He said, “Today marks the beginning of another history in the political
landscape of our great state. It marks the beginning of victory over darkness,
as we’re all on board to the promised land. The events of the recent weeks
spurred us into taking this very bold step; a step that has put stop to rumours
and speculations within the political circuit in Oyo State and Nigeria at
large.
“In preparation for the 2015 elections, we set out to actualise our
ambition on our old mat, but God has another plan for us, here we are on a
marble, the Rehoboth, without stress amidst honest and reliable people. I want
to reiterate that we never planned to leave the PDP. We were not chased out
either but it was evident that the current leadership of the party had
forgotten that politics is not the same as election.”
The former governor said the elections were decided by the electorate
rather than external influence, adding that the LP would embark on massive
public enlightenment in all nooks and crannies of the state.
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Politics