ADC vehicle for greater Ogun, Isiaka

Abiodun Taiwo, Abeokuta

The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Ogun State, Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka has called on indigenes of the state to rise up and support efforts of the party in rescuing the state from political buccaneers and return it to the path of people-centred governance and sustained development. Isiaka, who made the call in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Tuesday at a press conference tagged “Socio-economic situation of Ogun State and the 2019 elections”, said ADC is the vehicle that will engender the greater Ogun State agenda of making life more abundant for all. He noted that the March 2nd 2019 election is a referendum on good governance and choice for a better future, adding that “vote buying is real and it is a plague with huge implication on our future growth. “Let us endure the remaining four and half months and reject them on the ballot paper with a vote for ADC. All men of goodwill must rise up to support the effort to rescue our state from political buccaneers and return it to the path of people-centred governance and sustained development”, Isiaka said. Raising alarm over an allegation by opposition parties to manipulate the governorship election in the state, the ADC governorship hopeful said the parties have hatched plan is to unleash thugs to precipitate violence in many polling booths and compromise the collation of election results up to close figures and push it to a point of having overall results declared as inconclusive and then force a rerun in premeditated polling booths within a particular senatorial district where they then hope to cement the plot by outright intimidation and harassment of our party members or sympathetic electorates. He appealed to the state Resident Electoral Commissioner and his team not to lend themselves to the sinister plot of the antidemocratic elements, adding that “they must make every vote count and resist the temptation and inducement of the current establishment. In similar vein, we call on the Commissioner of Police, State Director DSS, NSCDC and the military formation in Ogun state to be on notice of these planned acts; including intended security breach by certain names loyal to the government of the day. Our votes must be protected and every electorate must be protected all the way”. Speaking on the plan of his party on the welfare of the citizenry, Isiaka said, “We shall reduce largely our dependency on federal allocations as we hope to build a state that is self-sustaining by gradually building our IGR base without burdening the people. We are bringing in the Nordic model of Social Welfarism that has proven useful to small functional governments with fiscal autonomy”. “Our party, ADC believes in social democracy as an ideology, we shall promote a business friendly environment for entrepreneurship and industrialization to thrive while ensuring that our people’s welfare and economic enhancement is given adequate attention”. “In this development model, Education and Healthcare and Social Security will be the cornerstone of our welfare system. Every economic participant is a free agent with minimal regulation which means everyone is able to do one business or the other without any inhibition coupled with government’s provision of enabling infrastructure”. “This model significantly reduces poverty and inequality; two major goals of the sustainable development framework. Economic pundits have said, while it can work in nation with large heterogeneous population, it works even better in smaller societies and that is where a state like ours can take advantage; provided there is cooperation and trust among the citizenry and sincerity on the path of the drivers of government”. “We shall practically combine lavish welfare systems with fast growth and low unemployment aimed at encouraging the thriving, supports the striving and takes care of the struggling. Our economic potentials across the three senatorial districts will be fully tapped under this model”, he said.