By Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi, Reporting for Nigerian Concord
The governorship candidate of Zenith Labour Party in the forthcoming November 16 poll in Ondo state, Dr. Abbas Mimiko has condemned the clamours that the next governorship should be zoned to the Southern part of the state.
The Frontline candidate said this during a chat with Nigerian Concord Newspaper yesterday, adding that the idea that the position should be rotational among the three senatorial zones in the state is primitive.
According to him, there is no need for anyone to call for any zoning arrangement since there is no time that any of the three senatorial zones didn’t partake at all governorship elections in the past.
Dr. Mimiko, younger brother to a former governor of Ondo state, Dr. Olusegun noted that what the state needs now if the best man that can rescue it from the slavery, poor governance and misrule of the APC-led administration of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa irrespective of the zone he is from.
His words: “I am of the firm belief that this idea that it is the turn of the South, Central or North is very primitive. I think it is the turn of the best candidate that will better the lots of the people. I do not share that philosophy that power must rotate among the senatorial districts or the time for power to go to the South or to the North.
“There has never been any time that there will be an election that the North or the South will not contest. Ditto when the Central was contesting, North and South were in contention.
“What is important is for us to ask if this is the life we want to live in? When the sea is calm, anybody can hold the mast but in turbulent waters, you need a capable captain to pilot the ship to safety. We are in troubled times in Ondo State. That is why we are running. We know we can change the lots of this state.We have programme that will change the trajectory of this narration.
Speaking on his pedigree, the candidate said that the people of Ondo know him and can attest to the fact that he is a good administrator. He stressed that he is known to be a good leader that won’t fail then when he becomes governor of the state next year February.
Asked about his choice of Zenith Labour Party, the medical doctor it was logical that he should run under thr party since he was there many years ago when the party was formed.
His words: “The Zenith Labour Party was not a contraption from the blues. We sat down some years ago to start a new party that will actually represent social democratic ethos that we say we believe in. I sat there when ZLP was formed. I was part of the formation of the ZLP. It is logical that if I want to run, that will be my choice party.
While reacting to the scrapping of some of the projects which former governor Olusegun Mimiko did during his eight year tenure by late Rotimi Akeredolu, the Zenith Labour Party candidate said that he will bring back some of the beautiful projects if he becomes governor of Ondo state.
His words: “f I become Governor, some of the beautiful projects and programmes he (Segun Mimiko) introduced will be brought back like the free shuttle buses for pupils, Safe Motherhood, free maternal care, free medical care for children zero to six years, which we planned together when he was Governor. Definitely, I will reenact those programmes and those projects”
Speaking on the process that led to his emergence as ZLP candidate, Dr. Abbas Mimiko said that he was nominated during a process that had the grace of the INEC and all the party members.
He however faulted the processes that led to the emergences of the candidates of All Progressive Congress and the People’s Democratic Party, Lucky Aiyedatiwa and Hon. Agboola Ajayi.
He said: The ZLP of 2020 is not the ZLP of 2024. As you recall, look at the APC primary, everything was rigged all the way. Everyone in the contest had a complain. The PDP primary was mere shamble. Look at the ZLP primary. It was peacefully conducted and thoroughly supervised by INEC at the Ward and State levels. We had a decent primary, and not a single soul contested any element of our primary. We are represented in the 203 Wards of Ondo State. We are strong everywhere and we carry the people’s agenda”
While assessing the state government under the late Rotimi Akeredolu and the present governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the ZLP candidate said that the APC-led administration has failed the people of Ondo state.
He said: “APC in Ondo State has nothing to offer the people of the state. What have they offered between 2017 and now? They took maternal care for pregnant women from free service to a service where you have to pay N300,000 for a cesarian session. We are telling the people we will take it back to zero kobo for safe delivery.
“They took school buses away from children. They parked them to rot away in yards of government. We are not only going to revamp the idea of free shuttle buses, we are going to buy new buses for children so they will start having free ride to school.
“A party that is asking for vote on the fact that a pregnant woman must die if she cannot come up with N300,000 if she needs a cesarian session. That is what they are selling. A government that bulldozed cocoa plantation of 20 years. Our farmers are crying everyday. The President’s duty is not come and grow food for Ondo State, he is to make the environment conducive for doing that. Look at Niger State. When they wanted to do massive agriculture, didn’t the President support them? Didn’t he back them with all the international connections. Are they not doing great in agriculture? You expect the President to come and use hoes and cutlasses to come and grow food for us in Ondo State.
“The APC in Ondo State has nothing to offer the people. The PDP has nothing to offer the people. We come with a mantra of the seven K’s of prosperity and people are marching onto it.
To be continued