Our Reporter
Eyes are on the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State as it prepares for governorship poll.
Among the aspirants itching to succeed Governor Rotimi Akeredolu is Bukola Adetula, who incidentally hails from Owo Kingdom as the incumbent.
Akeredolu is seeking a second term in office. Adetula, who ran the race with him in 2016, is undeterred. He said he has what it takes to rule the state.
He attributed his confidence to God’s grace, support from various quarters, as well as the Ondo people, who are groaning under the burden of rulership.
According Yinka Esho, the spokesperson of the Bibire Mobilisation Group, Adetula, on the occasion of his grandfather’s remembrance in which family members, friends, well-wishers, as well as hundreds of party supporters gathered, seized the opportunity to preach party cohesion and speak on his aspiration.
“This gathering of a mammoth crowd at his ZOKA Castle residence unruffled some feathers and unsettled some individuals who felt threatened by his aspiration.
At some point, some weird-looking people stormed his residence and were it not for the timely intervention of security agents at the event, the hoodlums would have unleashed terror and distrupted the event.
Despite the intrusion, however, the celebration moved to the ancestral home of the Adetulas, the crowd undeterred and unperturbed by the earlier development.
At his Sasere ancestral Compound in the heart of Owo, he was received by members of his extended family. He thereafter, proceeded in the company of his crowd amidst various cultural and acrobatic display groups and excited okada riders, and danced through the market, amid cheers by market women and passers-by to pay homage to the Olowo of Owo, Oba Gbadegesin Ogunoye III. There, he received the Olowo’s royal blessings.
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It was indeed, a day Owo stood in support of a worthy son, Esho concluded.
In his reaction to the attempt by thugs to distrupt the event, he said: “There’s no gainsaying that I am an astute party man, who has never been involved in anti-party activities all my life.
“My loyalty, integrity, compassion and generosity is unblemished, and this endears me to the people of Ondo State, and naturally, since many people love to associate with a good thing, I have many supporters in Owo and her environs.
“And like I often said, everyone here in Owo and Ondo State at large can attest to my late father, Chief ZOK Adetula’s loyalty and integrity. He was a core progressive that I learnt from and I have vowed to follow in his footsteps.
So, if my supporters who are by extension, APC loyalists gathered in their hundreds from the eleven wards in Owo Local Government to honour and support me, and that makes me a target for the siege of the thugs of those that are threatened by my aspiration, then, I must express in strong terms, my disenchantment. I find it absolutely condescending.”
He, however, thanked security operatives across the State for arresting the situation and ensuring the success of the program.
In the same breath, he said, “I wish to state categorically that everyone has a right to aspire for any office, and no one has the right to trample on the ambition of another, either by threat, intimidation or whatever means.
“If indeed we politicians have the interest of our people at heart, they must be allowed to elect their leaders.” He further states that his ambition “is endorsed by God, and as a lion-hearted man, he will not fear what man can do.
Owo and Ondo State belong to us, and no one will vacate it for the other.” Adetula said his rising profile is attributable to God’s infinite mercy and support from all quarters. These, he is confident, shall ensure his victory in the forthcoming polls.
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