The Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Oyo state, Thursday, adopted Sen. Teslim Folarin, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), as its preferred choice ahead of Saturday’s gubernatorial election.
SDP disclosed this position shortly after an emergency State Congress held in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
Having reviewed the performances of the party in the last Presidential and National Assembly elections, members of the SDP from across the 33 local government areas agreed to a coalition.
The meeting also saw members calling for a lot of caution in the coalition expressing confidence in the collaboration with the APC candidate.
In their separate remarks, the party leaders from various local governments said the ruling government of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Governor Seyi Makinde has been a woe for the entire state.
They noted that it had been their long-standing mission to oust the Makinde-led government as a result of the level of betrayal to the coalition parties that saw him won the 2019 election as well as to the people of the state.
Addressing the gathering, the SDP Chairman, Oyo State, Mr. Micheal Okunlade said in the last 46 months, governance has become something else in Oyo state.
“I am sure you all are aware that the governorship election is coming up next week. It should have been in three days but INEC has decided to reschedule the election. Be that as it may, we have decided to go on with our planned press conference.
“To start with, we all know what brought us here -SDP. The majority of us had decided to join the party owing to the injustice meted to us in the Peoples Democratic Party. And since we started, there has been no problem. Our leaders, starting from our own Alhaja Mulikat Akande Adeola and others have done so very well for us till this point. And we will never take love for granted.
“In the last 46 months, governance has become something else in Oyo. I am not saying this because we were neglected. We moved on long ago. Though I will still get to talk about it. Things are going bad and we are surprised people are not talking about it.
“Governor Seyi Makinde pretends to be who he is not. He is worse than Nebuchadnezzar. He believes that anybody can be bought anytime. And that is why he connects to neglected people. All those who assisted in putting him in power, where are they today? From Baba Rashidi Ladoja to Engr. Raufu Olaniyan, to our own Alhaji Mulikat Akande Adeola to Alhaji Adebisi Olopoeyan to Sen. Olufemi Lanlehin, to Barr. Sharafadeen Alli (now senator-elect). The list is endless. Rather than leave us to our fate, some of us cannot sleep in our houses because thugs are being sent to us.
“In over four years of governance, Makinde has rolled back the achievements of past governments and returned our state to the locust years.
“If he is not using consultants and contractors to fritter our state’s resources, he is doing half-baked projects, at exorbitant costs. His association with an ex-convict and executive cover for his lawlessness has brought our state’s security to ground zero. Indeed, Governor Makinde’s infractions are endless.
“We believe that to right these wrongs, there is a need for us to form a virile coalition with a party that can dislodge this administration that has shown itself to be lacking in development. That is why, after many meetings with major stakeholders even outside of our party, we arrived at Sen. Teslim Folarin of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
“Our decision is not based on anything than the development of our dear state. He has the record. He is not someone who would promise what he won’t do. He is as straight as that.
“All these said, I like to enjoin all of us to go out en masse and vote for our house of assembly candidates. The support is just for the governorship, and it ends at that”, he submitted.
