Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde has emerged the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the gubernatorial election coming up in 2023 after defeating former Deputy Governor of the state, Barrister Hazeem Gbolarumi.
Makinde polled 1040 votes to defeat his main challenger, Barrister GBOLARUMI who scored two votes. The election results was announced by the Chief Returning Officer of the Oyo State PDP Electoral Committee, Senator Ben Obi, represented by Alhaji Abdullahi Mai-Basira.
In his acceptance speech, Governor Makinde, who expressed gratitude to party leaders, members and delegates across the 33 Local Government Areas for believing in him, used the opportunity to highlight the achievements of his administration.
The governor vowed to keep all the promises he had made to the party and the people of Oyo State, adding that he would do everything within his power to take the state from poverty to prosperity.
The Electoral Panel for Oyo State PDP Governorship Primary includes
Senator Ben Ndi Obi (Chairman)
Mrs. Hassana Abubakar (member)
Hon. S. K. E Udeh Okoye (member)
Otunba Ola Alimi (member)
Mrs. Jambara B. Jombo (member)
Mrs. Ngozi Ononiwu (member) and
Alh. Abdullah Mai Basira.
Three ad-hoc members were selected from across 351 wards, making 1053 delegates who participated in the election.
The PDP Chairman in Oyo State, Dayo Ogungbenro preached peace and urged all party delegates to maintain peace as, according to him, the primary election is just a process mainly to elect the party’s flag bearer.
However, earlier at the venue, some hoodlums invaded the canopies under which delegates who are loyal to Barrister Gbolarumi were sitting and chased them away.
Addressing the delegates, Governor Makinde commended Barrister Gbolarumi for coming out to contest the primary, praising him for entrenching democracy in Oyo State PDP.
Makinde, who rallied party members to work together for the party’s progress, noted that the PDP remained the best option for the people of Oyo State and Nigerians.
According to him, the party has, in three years of its leadership in Oyo, brought tremendous economic prosperity and massive infrastructure development to the State.
He added that it was time to rescue Nigeria and that the PDP remained the best path towards realising that goal.
Makinde, who noted that he would reach out to Barr. Gbolarumi with a view to working together, said it was time for a new beginning for the party.
In his response, Barrister Gbolarumi, who decried chasing away his delegates, also frowned at how some party leaders take side of the Governor instead of mediating between the warring factions.
The congress was monitored by security agents, the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Oyo State, Barr. Mutu Agboke and other INEC officials.
He said: “Few weeks back, I announced that I would run for a second term and was overwhelmed by the positive feedback I received from everyone, especially you, our delegates.
“Coming here today to witness your endorsement and my election as your standard-bearer in the 2023 election, what can I just say? I can only say thank you.
“I am not the most brilliant or the most upright but you gave me your mandate today and I appreciate it. I thank you for believing in me and in our party, PDP. Thank you for trusting in me. You see, trust is like a building and, for every building to stand, it must have a solid foundation. The foundation for trust is truth.
“I told you in 2018 that I may not be right all the time but we would be honest with you all the time, because I have the control over whether I want to be truthful or not. And because I have been truthful to you, we now have the bond and trust between us. I say it to you once again that I will keep to all the promises made to you.
“Since we took office in 2019, we have kept our promises. We promised to scrap the N3,000 school fees for parents, and did we scrap it or not? We did. We promised the sole ownership of LAUTECH. Today, do we have it or not? We do. We promised standard PHCs in each ward, are you seeing them come up or not? We promised to prioritise security, did we not give you Amotekun or not? We promised a robust economy, have we not been paying civil servants consistently?
“Today is 25th and I am sure civil servants and pensioners must have received alerts. We promised to build Akesan and Sasa markets, which got burnt and we have done that. We promised bus terminals at Ojoo, Challenge and we have executed that. The terminal at Iwo Road is also coming.
“We promised to build roads because our infrastructure will target our economy. Moniya-Iseyin road is completed. Oyo-Iseyin road is ongoing. We flagged off the Ogbomoso-Fapote-Iseyin road recently. The Airport road is there.
Awotan-Apete-Akufo road is also there. We built Challenge, Odo-Ona Elewe road to decongest Ring road. Even the stadium we are in used to be a den of armed robbers, but is now a sight to behold.
“This is your government and have we not made you proud? All we have been able to do is because you gave us a chance, and you are trusting us today to even do more. And I want to promise you that we will do more than your expectation.”
Governor Makinde declared that as long as he remained the governor of Oyo State, he would continue with his resolve to move people from poverty to prosperity.
“As long as I remain the governor of Oyo State, God be with us, I will continue to do all within my power to move the people from poverty to prosperity.
“I will continue to work for you. You are our Bosses. You sent us on this assignment. So, I want to urge all our members to work towards the progress of our party.
“I promise you that this night, I will call Barrister Hazeem Gbolarumi, as it is a new beginning for the PDP in Oyo State. 2023 is our time to rescue Nigeria.
“When they say to you that we are all the same, ask them to compare eight years of APC to three years of PDP in Oyo State. Ask them to compare the economic prosperity of 16 years of PDP to what we have now. They promised to take us from ‘top to bottom’ and, indeed, we are even inside the hole. Tell them PDP is coming at the federal level. We are coming,” Makinde added.