Kennedy Peretei is spokesman for Ondo PDP. In this interview, he argues that the ruling APC has no records of achievements
As PDP ready for this election?
We are preparing. Preparations are in top gear. The National Campaign Council has been inaugurated in Abuja under the leadership of the Oyo State Government. Some local governments have started inaugurating their campaign councils. All hands are on deck and we are working hard to ensure we emerged victorious on October 10.
What are the campaign issues?
Ondo is where education is a prized endeavour. We have the issue of tuition fees for students of tertiary institutions. Before Akeredolu came, tuition fees were between N15,000 and N35,000. It is now N150,000 and above. Before now, education was free and most of the people at the helm of affairs today benefitted from free education. Since education has been placed outside the reach of the common man, they are looking forward to a government that will return it which was what the PDP did before. The number one issue here is the education of our children that has been put outside the purview of parents. The PDP will reduce the tuition fees and it can come back to what they were paying before. There is health care delivery. Before this present administration, treatment for mother and child was free. Pregnant women were delivered for free and given free treatment. People used to come from neighbouring states to enjoy free treatment offered by the PDP administration. But today, people now pay through their noses to get treatment for their children. This is what Ondo people are now protesting. There is the issue of urban renewal. If you lived in Akure, from Airport junction to Ilesha garage, the streets were kept clean. No refuse anywhere, but this is what we are seeing now. Infrastructure in the markets was put in place with credit facilities for the traders. The issue before Ondo people is the life abundance they enjoyed before and the poverty they are experiencing now. Look at the schools that are being renovated now. Those renovating the schools are not residents here in Ondo. They are from Ibadan. The water they drink is brought in from Ibadan. The government is doing capital flight. The capital flight will make it impossible for the people to vote for the APC. We are campaigning with what we have done before and the promise to improve on what we have done before.
Mimiko will be campaigning with those things in the PDP
He did those things under the PDP and not the ZLP. He did those things not under the ZLP. The ZLP has not been tested. He has to bring out the products from ZLP. Those projects paraded were done under the PDP. He did those things under the PDP. Even if they said he worked under the Labour Party. He was SSG under Agagu and later became a minister under Obasanjo. It was the disagreement for power that pushed him to the Labour Party. The Labour Party in Ondo was an offshoot of the PDP. It will be valid for us to lay credit to all these achievements under the PDP administration. As of 2016, the present PDP candidate was the same candidate under the supervision of Dr. Mimiko. If ZLP said it wants to campaign with those things they have to go to the farm and bring out their own products before they can campaign with them.
Are you saying the ZLP cannot campaign with Mimiko?
It will be misplaced for the Zenith Labour Party to campaign. It is an election that is used to measure success and failure of a party. The ZLP contested election in 2019 and the only thing they had to show was a member of the State House of Assembly. That is their record. The PDP went away with two senators and three members of the House of Representatives. That is our assessment. Mimiko contested the senatorial election under the ZLP, that is their scorecard. We are parading our scorecard.
There is accusation that the PDP is pursuing the Akure agenda?
Anybody saying PDP is pursuing Akure agenda is trying to localize a state issue. There is nowhere the candidate has gone to say he is from Akure. At the primaries, he won majority votes from other senatorial districts. He came out with a convincing victory. It is a ticket based on his personality; it is a ticket based on antecedent and what he is coming to offer. His aspiration is not Akure based. It will not be correct to say he is pursuing Akure Agenda. Yes Akure has the largest voting population in the state. They can take advantage of that but not Akure agenda.
APC should go and check their records. They should check their scorecards. There was a local government election and the people resisted them. They got so much resistance despite contesting against themselves. They should tell us which area they performed. What we have covered is like 200 kilometres. Is it the increment in tuition fees and there was riot everywhere. The children and their parents protested until campaign came, they said they are reducing by 20 percent, making mockery of the entire process. It is the people scoring them.
They are saying they will use thugs to snatch ballot boxes. They will be resisted. Ondo people will not allow thuggery. The total number of roads they have done is not up to half of what the PDP did. Look at the dual carriageways the PDP did. Compensation was made to the people. What they have done is not up to one quarter of what the PDP did. Ore is the most ridiculous of their projects. Go and compare interchanges in other states to the one in Ore. If there is a small blockage, there will be hold up. That project was used to swindle our people. What is not properly done is not done at all.
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