Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
FORMER governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, is leading five other aspirants who are vying for the post in the 2022 election under the party.
The others who have collected the expression of interest and nomination forms of the PDP are Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, Honourable Sanya Omirin, Prince Dotun Babayemi, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade and Mr Dele Adeleke, who is Ademola Adeleke’s nephew. Babayemi and Dele Adeleke purchased their forms at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja on Friday.
In a statement he issued after the purchase, titled ‘The time to re-engineer Osun is now’, Dele Adeleke said the present All Progressives Congress (APC) administration in the state led by Governor Gboyega Oyetola had plunged the state into debt through misplacement of priorities.
“This is what the APC represents – misplacement of priorities and mismanagement of scarce state resources,” he said.
Adeleke noted that there was the urgent need to reengineer Osun State, saying that he was in the race to restore Osun to prosperity.
He stated: “One thing is clear to even the people who are in power today: Osun State needs urgent re-engineering. Financially, administratively, politically and socially, we need a new direction, a new mindset, a new thinking and a new approach to solving our problems. We need a new order.”
Speaking on the new order, he declared: “I am coming into this race with three decades of hard-earned working experience in corporate financial re-engineering, project management and human resource management.
“My professional qualifications and proven track record of practical industry exposure have prepared me for challenging situations like the one Osun is presently mired by. I am eminently qualified, competent and ready to undertake the reengineering and repositioning that Osun so urgently needs.
“Therefore, I offer myself in service to be the vessel of uplift, the ladder of ascension to the progress and prosperity of our beloved state.
“In addition, coming from a family that has over the years proven her commitment to social development, my ancestry and indeed my personal engagements across the state make me eminently ready for the task of service to the people of Osun State, as governor.
“Picking up my nomination form is the first step in the long journey towards wresting power from the incumbent APC. Having taken this first step, I declare my readiness to do all that it will constructively take to win the confidence of all stakeholders, leaders and teeming party faithful to be elected as the PDP flag-bearer, go on to win the governorship election and ultimately deliver great service to the people of our dear state.
“We must halt the retrogression of our dear state under the mismanagement of the APC. We must re-engineer, rebuild and reposition. We must salvage and make sense of all that we have left now, to build a today that is blissful for us and a future that our children can be proud to be part of.
“Finally, this is an urgent call to the good people of Osun, a call to the oppressed, the deprived, the downtrodden and particularly the youths’ yearning for a better future. A revolution has started, a time to say no to any form of oppression, a time to rise up to action and rescue our dear state. Do not just complain, act.
“Please join hands with me, support this movement to birth a new dawn of prosperity. Let us stand firm and undeterred in our conviction to set Osun on the path of sustainable development. Together we will achieve this great feat.”
