I will publish govt account monthly if elected Ondo governor – Okunomo
Tunde Opalana, Abuja
One of those aspiring to govern Ondo state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Hon. Banji Ben Okunomo has assured the people of the state that he will be accountable to the electorate if elected governor.
He promised to publish a monthly report of revenues and expenditures of the state for public scrutiny.
Okunomo made the pledge Wednesday evening shortly after obtaining the Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms to contest the governorship primaries at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja.
The one-time chairman of Ilaje Local Government Area ssid he is in the race to fight for the governorship ticket of the PDP ahead of yhe October 10 governorship election.
While accusing the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu of running the state like a fiefdom and family affair, he said he will run a transparent administration.
He said: “I will be accountable to the people. I will make sure every kobo that comes out of the coffers of Ondo state is accounted for. I will be rendering monthly account to the people of the state if elected.
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“I am not going to continue with what is currently the norm in the state where government is being run like a family business.
“I am a young man with a vision and mission and my mission and vision in putting myself forward at this critical time of our political lives in Ondo state is for me to come forward and address the challenges confronting our people.
“Ondo state requires immediate intervention. I am on a rescue mission and that mission is to come on board and make a lot of difference in the affairs of governance of the people of Ondo state.
“My antecedents will serve as an impetus to do more if given a higher responsibillty as someone who as served as the Chief Executive of a local government in the past.
“I must say that there is nothing in Lagos that Ondo state does not have. We shall make the state an industrial hub where investors would be attracted to given the resources God has given us.”
Speaking on his agenda in governance if elected, Okunomu said he would use the instrument of government to employ people, stressing that he would “create a corridor of economic opportunities. The free trade zone which has been abandoned but will become an industrial hub in my own time.”
He also promised to take a good look at bitumen, a resource, he noted Ondo has in commercial quantity.
“Our oil mill is almost postrate and our bitumen has become a thing of mirage. Ondo state has one of the largest deposit of bitumen in this country. I will bring in experts if I become governor for the exploitation of bitumen and provide the mitigation measures which have to be put in place to avert ecological disaster that could accompany the exploitation and exploration of bitumen.
“Bitumen exploration alone is capable of mopping up the teeming population of the unmployed not only in Ondo but other neighbouring states.
“This means that unless we inject ingenuity in the governance of Ondo state, we will continue to remain the way we are. I am coming to make a paradigm shift from the old order so that Ondo state can become an industrial hub. We need to look at our natural resources with a view to attracting investors to Ondo state.
“I will make agriculture a priority and that is a sector that has been abandoned by the government of our state. The level of infrastructual decay in Ondo state is so unfortunate”, he said.
