The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) candidate in last year’s governorship election in Ondo State, Eyitayo Jegede, has declined Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu’s offer to collaborate with his administration to develop the State.
Governor Akeredolu called for a collaborative efforts from his opponent, Jegede after the Supreme Court judgement affirmed his election, to join hands with him to move the state forward.
But Jegede who spoke through a statement signed by the spokesman of the Ondo PDP, Kennedy Peretei, described Akeredolu’s request as laughable.
Jegede said he could not be part of a government that has thrown out many students of tertiary institutions in the State because their parents could no longer pay what he termed astronomical school fees charged by Akeredolu’s administration.
He said he could not be part of the government that crippled the health care system and withdrew free shuttle buses for school children.
Jegede urged Governor Akeredolu to channel his energies to improving the welfare of Ondo citizens instead of grandstanding and clicking of wine glasses over the Supreme Court Judgement.
According to the statement: “It is unthinkable that Akeredolu can ask our candidate to join a government that has pauperised civil servants in the state through the payments of 30% salaries that are not even regular.
“Civil servants now have to take loans to be able to pay house rents or send their children to school.
“The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa Chapter has just embarked on an indefinite strike. What has been the government’s response to all these myriad of problems?
“It is important to stress that, before the October 2020 election, Eyitayo Jegede, SAN and the PDP drew up a well-articulated manifesto on Education, Health Care delivery, Agriculture, Industrialization, Welfare of Civil Servants and much more in contradistinction to what is obtainable now in the state. To this extent, there is no meeting point between what was designed by the PDP and Akeredeolu’s scorecard.
“The Supreme Court verdict has also exposed the impunity which is the trademark and the foundation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its Government at all levels. All the seven Justices of the Supreme Court agreed that Mai Mala Buni acted in clear violation of Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“This has become the talking point of the political space since the judgement was delivered. Our jurisprudence on election matters has been enriched and everyone is grateful to Eyitayo Jegede and the PDP for not allowing the APC to drown our democracy in the sea of their impunity.”
