By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan.
Chairman, Southwest Governors’ Forum, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, on Monday asked the Ondo state governor elect, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN to be ready to join the forum in the task of redesigning and implementing a bold and sustainable Development Agenda for Western Nigeria.
Governor Ajimobi said this in his congratulatory message to Mr Akeredolu, on his victory in the last Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo state by his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mr Yomi Layinka.
The governor declared that Mr Akeredolu should realize that his mandate transcends the borders of Ondo state at this critical season in the socio economic climate of the country.
According to the Governor of Oyo State, at a recent Southwest Governors’ Economic Forum held in Ibadan, all the six Southwest governors agreed that the optimum interest of the York’s people should be their prime focus at all times and that the Ondo state governor elect should “spare a thought for his with and kin across the South West who were looking forward to his assumption of office when he would be expected to join hands with his governor-brothers in the region in the task of redesigning and implementing a bold and sustainable Development Agenda for Western Nigeria”.
“At the end of the forum, participants agreed that regional integration, as a sustainable economic development paradigm, presents the South west region, and indeed the whole of Nigeria, a pathway out of our economic recession into economic prosperity for all”he said.
Governor Ajimobi while expressing satisfaction at the relatively peaceful conduct and successful conclusion of the keenly contested election, lauded “the mature and brotherly behaviors of the 28 candidates that flew their parties’ flags in the election, as well as the electorate” saying “only in such peaceful and comrades environment could the country build a truly democratic culture”.
Felicitating with President Muhammad Buhari, the leadership and members of the All Progressives Congress for their respective contributions to the eventual victory of the party’s candidate, he
“prayed for God’s guidance and wisdom for the governor-elect to make a difference in the lives of the Ondo people, who he said, reposed confidence in him and the APC”.
Governor Ajimobi also tasked the governor elect to brace himself for the task at hand, stressing that winning an election was only the first step in the many more arduous stages of delivering good governance to the people, given the current parlors state of the economy.
“Dramatic as the story of your ascendancy and subsequent election was, it pales into insignificance compared to the onerous tasks ahead. But, I’m confident that you are more than equal to the task. Not only do you now owe the people of Onto State the duty of confronting and amelioration their past and current pains, you are now being saddled with the responsibility of charting their path to a new lease of life and leading them into a secure and prosperous future”.
