Ondo state governor-elect, Rotimi Akeredolu says his Ondo election victory<\/p>\n
was a manifestation of God\u2019s power and he would like to focus on this
\nmandate rather than probe the past government.<\/p>\n
Reacting to the conduct and outcome of the election in Akure on Monday,
\nthe APC candidate said that he was surprised by the margin of votes
\nbetween him and his closest rivals.<\/p>\n
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Sunday, declared
\nthe APC candidate, winner of the 2016 Ondo state governorship election.<\/p>\n
He polled 244, 842 votes to beat his closest rival, Eyitayo Jegede of the
\nPeoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 150, 380 votes, while Mr
\nOlusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) followed with 126, 889
\nvotes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has happened in this election is quite beyond my personal
\nexpectations but then it is a case of saying we cannot limit God \u2013 I want
\nto believe it is God-given victory to the people of Ondo state.
\n\u201cWhat was beyond my imagination was the magnitude \u2013 the number of votes we
\nscored vis-a-vis what two other contestants scored. I never believed that
\nthe margin would be that wide,\u201d Akeredolu said.<\/p>\n
Therefore, on the issue of probing the state\u2019s accounts, the
\nGovernor-elect said that this is a venture he would not embark upon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe in probes. What I believe in is that I\u2019ve been given a
\nmandate to govern the state and when I come into office I will face the
\ntask.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe past is the past and I am one person who believes that government is
\na continuum,\u201d he said.
\nParty Support<\/p>\n
Mr Akeredolu went into the election without the support of some key
\nmembers of the his party and this further made his victory a surprise for
\nmany.<\/p>\n
He, however, maintained that the support of the party is more important
\nthan individuals\u2019 in an election.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that the party included everybody. So, the party gave us
\nsupport and whether we like it or not, that will be larger than what an
\nindividual can give.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have a national party behind you, it is larger than what any
\nindividual can give. So I believe that whatever individuals have done,
\nthey must have done through the party.\u201d<\/p>\n
Industrialization<\/p>\n
Mr Rotimi Akeredolu promised during his campaign to bring back the
\nindustries in the states and he provided an explanation of how he intends
\nto achieve this.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used the word revamp when I was talking about the educational
\ninfrastructures and co, but when it comes to the issue of industries, I
\nhave argued during my campaign that people use the word wrongly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say to us some industries are moribund (but) most of these
\nindustries are dead. So, its not easy to wake up a dead person and just
\nlike an industry, you cannot wake them up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe important thing is that industrialization is important to us and we
\nare going to have to get as many people as are interested.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the sand for glass industry in the south. It is not necessary we
\nhave to go back to Oluwa Industry, the furnace there is already old and
\nthe technology there is no longer in use.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo all we need is to have people come. We will provide the enabling
\nenvironment for them and they can start another one. It might be in the
\nsame premises.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have industry on ceramics in Ifon. We are thinking about what we have
\non cement and I know that in the next few weeks, many more will come.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that foreign investors have been approaching him to invest in the
\nstate even before the election and he was sure that with an enabling
\nenvironment a lot of development would be achieved in Ondo state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ondo state governor-elect, Rotimi Akeredolu says his Ondo election victory was a manifestation of God\u2019s power and he would like to focus on this mandate rather than probe the past…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n