Razaq Bamidele
National Chairman of the Action Alliance (AA), Hon. Adekunle Rufai Omo-Aje, has said that his party would contest the coming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States, expressing confidence that, “we will win.”
Omo-Aje, in a telephone chat with our correspondent from Abuja, on Thursday, said, “We are not contesting just for the sake of it but to win,” volunteering that, “the candidates we will field in the two states are those known to be competent with administrative acumen.”
Speaking further, the former elected councillor in Ede South Local Government on the ticket of the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) that later transformed to All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), said, the names of the candidates would be revealed through party primaries slated for 24/25 June in Benin City for Edo State and 23/24 July in Akure for Edo State.
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The business tycoon cum politician disclosed that, our strategy to win the Edo and Ondo polls would signify the party’s preparedness to spring big surprises in 2023 general election, saying, “already, those who know our political and electoral worth are already approaching us to be part of us.”
The Ede, Osun State-born politician stated with delight that, “since the time we escaped the deregistration harmer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), our popularity has been shooting skywards,” adding that, “our door is still very much open because politics is supposed to be an inclusive exercise.”
While explaining how deregistration carried out by INEC did not apply to his party, he disclosed that, the party has elected office holders following the general election of 2019, pointing out that, “thus, INEC could not have deregistered a party that has elected candidates at different levels of government with presence all over the country in addition.”
Showcasing his modest popularity, Omo-Aje has this to say: “I was elected Councillor at Ede South Local Government in Osun State on the platform of the ANPP against all odds.
“My mentor and former Governor of Osun State, the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who brought me into the ANPP crossed over to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but I refused to move with him. People thought I had signed my political death warrant.
“The magnanimous Adeleke said I should be left alone to test my popularity. The election was conducted twice and I won twice as the only ANPP candidate in the whole of the Local Government. Even my Chairman then, Hon. Sunday Akanfe Atidade, was a PDP member. He is now the Acting PDP State Chairman in Osun State.”
Paying glowing tribute to his Political mentor, Adeleke, AA Chairman said, “And till his death, I was still very loyal to him. May his soul rest in perfect peace.
“In fact, his untimely death was a great loss not to us alone in Ede and Osun State, but in Nigeria as a whole.
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“We can never forget that great generous man. The wound of his death has not healed in our heart.”
Concluding, Omo-Aje said, his plan for the party is simply to ensure that Nigerians, “through our political party, enjoy dividends of democracy that have been unjustifiably denied them,” adding that, “reason we are on course to make Action Alliance the biggest political party in Nigeria.
“And following my emergency as the National Chairman of Action Alliance, we have commenced massive mobilisation to further project the party to all Nigerians as awaiting Messiah.
“Our goal is to make Action Alliance the most trusted political party in Nigeria.”
