‘Ondo needs redemption’

AHEAD of the October governorship election in Ondo State, one of the governorship aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a 42-year-old accountant and businessman, Odunayo Akinrinsola has called on the people to vote for change instead of ‘continuity’, which the Governor Segun Mimiko and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may likely use as his campaign slogan to foist their choice candidate on the people.

Akinrinsola, who said there is nothing the incumbent governor or the PDP in Ondo have to offer to demand or preach continuity, averred that what the state needed now “is positive change that the APC is already implementing at the federal level, since it took over reign of power in May last year and in most of its controlled states.”

In this interaction with The Guardian, the businessman cum politician said his passion to govern Ondo and to succeed Mimiko was based on his determination, not just for the development and improvement of the state’s infrastructure but to also fashion out a viable system that would eventually and speedily take the people out of state of poverty.

According to him, “There is the need to move the state forward because the present situation that we found ourselves, despite the fact that it is an oil producing state, is nothing to write home about. Ondo is ready for change. It wants to move from where it is to where it should be. I believe there should be a radical departure from what they call continuity in Ondo State to what we call change. Nothing is working for now other than the fact that the present administration is busy playing politics at the expense of development.”

Although he said the incumbent is doing his bit “there are other channels of development we need to explore,” as he further pointed out that governance as it were in Ondo today, “is not just far from the people but the electorate are not benefiting the dividends of democracy as they should.”

He said, “Government should be brought nearer to the people. The people should be the focal point of development. The poverty level in Ondo State is at an alarming rate. People want to experience change in their way of living, thinking and all facets of life. Ondo State, which is blessed with natural resources, is lagging behind. All we centre our life on is the allocation from the Federal Government. The question is, do we have a working system? If we have a working system, definitely, we will move away from where we are to where we should be. We need to apply what I call the ‘Samanja approach-system, administration, management, accessibility, neutrality, justice and acceptance.”

On how the zoning arrangement may likely affect his chances of claiming the party’s governorship ticket, Akinrinsola said, “There are two political parties – the PDP and the APC. The perceived zoning is peculiar to the PDP. In my party, the APC, zoning has not come to play. There is nothing like zoning. We don’t have zoning in the APC. The perceived zoning in the PDP is about sectionalism.”

He reassured on his chances of winning the APC governorship ticket, saying: “I have a bright chance. There are three senatorial districts, the Central, North and South. I am from Ile-Oluji. I am not from the same senatorial district with the governor. The governor is from the Central. I am from the South.”

He also dismissed the fear that his party may end up using a consensus candidate like it happened in 2012. According to him, “We are preaching change in the APC. Our party is a dynamic party. The APC has gone beyond the option of consensus candidacy. The party is ready to provide a level playing ground for aspirants at the primaries to showcase their potentials, their popularity, their abilities, and their manifestos.”