All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in 2019 and 2023 in Oyo State, Barrister Akeem Agbaje has affirmed his intentions and readiness to vie for office of the governor in the 2027 governorship election in the state
He made the disclosure in an exclusive interview with Oodua News, Ibadan while speaking on the state of the nation, adding that his plan to context the 2027 governorship election in the state is sealed.
He said the need to take the state out of its present worrisome condition informed his decision to context for office of the governor, adding that the health sector and others are already in comatose.
According to him, the administration of governor Seyi Makinde has not really impacted positively to the people as expected in the last six years of his administration.
“I don’t think Makinde in the last six years of his government has impacted positively to the people, I don’t even think he has a clear cut plan on how to move the state forward.
“He has failed to embark on projects that will add values to the lives of the people, the health sector is in comatose, the people depend on private hospitals on health issues.
“At this point of the nation’s challenging economy, strategic government intervention is needed in all these areas and also in the area of housing.”
Barrister Agbaje berated the state government for not contributing to the economic welfare of the people by providing relief alternatives to strengthen their daily living, hence, the hardship they are going through.
“The state governor is building a multi billion airport, how will that impact the lives of the citizens, there are competing needs for good means of livelihood, airport is not the next thing to embark upon. I don’t think Makinde’s six years government has impacted positively on the people, and I don’t think he has a clear cut plan on how to move the state forward.
“Governor Makinde has less than a year plus to do the needful in the state, he needs to embark on projects that would add values to the lives of the people, for instance, strategic government intervention is needed in all these areas to enhance the living conditions of the people.
“I want to assure the people that if I emerge victorious in the 2027 governorship election in the state, we will address all of these issues, especially the basic daily needs of the people of Oyo State.
“Sectors like education, health, Agriculture and others would be given utmost priority, while there will be intervention to reduce cost of daily living. “After all of these, we then can begin to talk of next level of development.
“In education sector, you can create value chain which everyone can key into to provide free education and good environment, we will touch areas like agriculture to boost food security, free health care, quality education and many other sector to improve the living conditions of the people.
“Under the health sector, we will have General hospitals outside Ibadan, and the development strides will not be limited to Ibadan but across the seven zones in the state. There must be policies to stimulate developments across the state.
Speaking on the state of the nation’s economy, the legal luminary who noted that things are very hard for the people said, “But we need to realize that things have been bad before the administration of President Bola Tinubu took over, and he has been trying to fix the economy especially on things distorting the economy like fuel subsidy, instability in forex and many others. The president has been been doing all of these so that we can have a platform for development.”
Barrister Agbaje expressed the belief that steps being taken by President Bola Tinubu would bring significant relief, urging the people to be patient with his efforts.
Said he, “We have three tiers of government, the federal, state and local governments, but the local government system in Oyo state is in comatose, If the local government is functioning well, it will bring relief to the people of the state.
“We lose sight that the basic responsibility of the people is between the state and local government while the the federal government is likely at policy formulation level. Most states revenue have increased, consequently and surprisingly their non obligation has increased too.
The erudite lawyer, who is a businessman in the oil, gas and energy sector commended Nigerians for their resilience adding that the leadership of the country need to work hard to move the nation forward by driving the economy through private sector.
Speaking on the present state of the APC in the state, he said, prior to the passing of the chairman of the party, Barrister Isaac Omodewu, there has been moves to reconcile the different interest within the party, adding that the party is making progress in that direction.
While urging Nigerians to be more patient and prayerful, Agbaje also appealed to the people to cooperate with the administration of President Bola Tinubu to enable him achieve success in his reforms aimed at addressing the hardship in the country.
